A Little Side Adventure
by DigimonDragongirl
Summary: Tai and the other season 1 DD's meet two new friends--an alien dragon species--and get swept into an adventure with them that includes sorcerers and shapeshifters!
1. Getting Off Track

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A Little Side Adventure

Episode One: Getting Off Track

By Shelli-Jo Pelletier

(ussfantasy@hotmail.com)

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Disclaimer: The characters and concept of Digimon do not belong to me, and I take no credit for them. However, the original characters and the fanfic itself do, so please don't use either without my written permission. Thank you.

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Taichi Kamiya, better known as Tai, wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his white-gloved hand. In the other he held a small creature that resembled nothing more than a pink head with long ears. The creature was panting, his red eyes half-lidded and his ears drooping. All in all, he didn't look too good.

"How do you feel, Koromon?" Tai asked, feeling more than a little guilty. It was his fault Agumon was in this state, after all. And Agumon was his best friend in the whole Digiworld. How did you make up for something like that?

Koromon's eyes swiveled up to the brown-haired boy's face. When he spoke, Tai was alarmed at how faint his voice sounded. "I'm . . . tired . . . Tai."

He stopped and looked around the depressing landscape, shading his eyes with his free hand. Sand, sand and more sand was the only thing to greet his gaze. Nothing but endless desert in every direction, wavering like it did when you stared over a campfire for too long. He sighed.

"What's wrong?" Sora Tackenouchi and her parrot Digimon named Biyomon came up beside him. Biyomon's pink and blue crest feather was limp in the heat. She flipped it out of her face with a shake of her head.

The boy turned to Sora, his brown eyes worried. "I was looking for some shade. But there isn't any," he added unnecessarily, pointing to Koromon.

"Yeah." She nodded her understanding. Biyomon was leaning against her now, but she didn't seem to mind. "I think everyone could use a break," the girl said, motioning to their whole group. Tai looked.

Yamato "Matt" Ishida had been turned into a leaning post as well—and was being exploited from both sides. His dog-like Digimon Gabumon sweated beneath his white and blue fur coat on his right. On his left panted his younger brother Takeru Takaishi—T.K. Little Tokomon sat in his usual place on the boy's green helmet. Behind this quartet stood the other two female members of their group. Mimi Tachikawa was explaining the concept of suntan lotion to her plant Digimon Palmon, who was visibly wilting but trying to pay attention. Behind them Joe Kido was talking with Koushiro Izumi (Izzy was much easier to say) about something or other. Joe's water-loving Digimon Gomamon was in his arms, his tongue hanging out. He wasn't taking the heat too well either. Tentomon, Izzy's insect Digimon, stood nearby.

"This is all my fault," groaned Tai, head bowed. "If I hadn't tried to force Greymon to digi-volve. . . ."

Sora shook her head. "Stop beating yourself up about it," she advised him, fanning her face to get a bit of wind. "At least you learned a lesson, and you'll never do it again. I think you should say something."

Tai looked up and blinked, confused at the sudden change of subject. "What do you mean?"

"To them." Her eyes darted to the rest of the group. "You're our leader, after all. You should . . . I dunno. Say something inspiring. To keep us all going."

The boy frowned. He hated it when he had to do something because he was "the leader." He used to think it was cool, when he and the others first landed in Digiworld. But he soon learned it wasn't just telling people what to do. It was much more. Being a leader was hard. Like now, for example. He had to keep everyone going. He knew that if they started to lose hope . . . well, Etemon would be the least of their problems.

Tai turned around and faced his friends, Koromon tucked under one arm. When they noticed, the kids and their Digimon all straightened slightly, perking up a bit. Tai figured this was a good sign. At least they were making the effort to appear better than they must have felt.

"Listen, everybody," Tai began awkwardly. "I know you're hot and tired. And thirsty and hungry too. Well, we can't stop now. There's nothing here but lots of sand, so we have to keep going until we find something. So . . . so we can't give up. This desert has to end somewhere." He finally fell silent, wondering if they all thought he was weirding out.

Matt was the first one to speak. "Of course we're not giving up, Tai," he said. "We've still got to defeat Etemon, and get back home." The others were nodding in agreement.

"Yeah! When we get out of this desert, I'm going to go swimming!" Gomamon announced, grinning.

"Me too!" cried T.K. and Tokomon at the same time. Smiles appeared on the others' faces.

Tai smiled too. He had done it! It hadn't even been that hard. Now if he could just keep it up, and if Koromon could last that long. . . .

He looked down at his small Digimon. Koromon wasn't quite smiling, but he did look a little stronger. Though how much of it was just an act to make him feel better, Tai had no idea. "I'll be okay," Koromon promised softly, his voice still weak. "Maybe just a quick nap. . . ."

"Go right ahead, little buddy," Tai insisted. "I'll wake you up if anything happens." Koromon yawned and allowed his eyes to close.

"All right then! Let's go!" The boy leader turned back to the direction they had been heading in. He ordered his legs to start walking, taking purposeful strides forward and ignoring the annoyance of the sand slipping under his sneakers. Hearing the others falling into line behind him—and Koromon start to snore—Tai allowed himself to grin. His thoughts were once again self-confident and sure. They _would_ reach the end of this desert. Eventually.

* * *

High above the landscape of dusty dunes, two smallish creatures sailed in slow, lazy circles. The heat billowed up like a great cushion of air under their wings, making flight effortless. They were so far up the desert spread like a living map below them, much too high to notice or be noticed by any being down there, or even a group of beings.

"Why _did_ you bring us here, Tok?" one of the creatures demanded of the other, her voice feminine and exasperated. "It's so boring. Look, nothing but that awful tan color in every direction. Why, it'll take hours to fly to someplace interesting. We could have come in some other spot than this."

The other snorted and rolled his eyes. "You don't appreciate anything, Sarith, unless it's alive with color and action. You should learn to enjoy the calmer things in life." To demonstrate, he twitched his left wing and spiraled down several feet gracefully, before flapping a few times to regain altitude.

"Humph." She was unimpressed. "So why _did_ you chose to come in here?"

"This is as good a place as any. I wasn't really paying attention. I just knew there was a world that the humans had made, unintentionally apparently. I wanted to check it out."

Sarith nodded. "Okay, but check what out? There's _nothing_ here!"

Tok chuckled dryly. "Come on, let's go look!" He folded his wings, dropping down and shrinking to a small dot with surprising quickness. Sarith's blue-green eyes glinted. Oh, a challenge, huh? She drew her own wings close to her sides and plummeted after him, her ears plastered back against her skull. Tok's blue-purple body grew rapidly. She was right on his tail. With a little test of the currents of air passing over her body she twisted, shooting over and past Tok. Her triumphant shout followed her down to the earth.

Suddenly she could make out each and every grain of sand on the ground below. Too close! Sarith threw open her wings and cupped air frantically. Clouds of dust billowed up and obscured her sight as she hit the ground. Her four legs absorbed most of the impact, but she was still jarred a bit. Shaking her head to clear it, she was just able to make out Tok as he touched down beside her.

His grin was smug. "Oh, very nice, Sarith," he simpered, blinking innocently. "You sure showed me."

"Quiet," she giggled as she swatted him with her tail. "I did that on purpose."

"Suuuuurrreee."

"I did!"

"Yeah, and I'm a—look out!" His face registered total shock and he leapt into the air, flapping heavily. She didn't question but spread her wings and joined him, getting out of the way just in time as a giant cruise ship barreled under them!

Sarith's eyes lit up. "Whoa! How close was that!? Come on, let's go see what's on board!" She swooped after the huge ship.

Tok snorted and rolled his eyes. Color and action. That was all she cared about. Heaving a sigh of resignation he hurried to catch up before the vessel, which was traveling quite fast for something that was suppose to only work in large bodies of water, left him behind.

By the time he caught up, Sarith had already landed on deck and was surrounded by a swarm of ugly green and purple beings, looking slimy and wearing sailor suits. Their huge eyes, set on eyestalks, were all locked on her while she chatted on amiably. As he neared her voice reached his ears. "—he comes now! Tok! Come meet these beings! They call themselves Numemon."

His landing was a little clumsily, and he glared at her for making him exert himself. It wasn't easy to land on a moving ship! But before he could voice his complaints the Numemon, smelling as bad as they looked, gathered around him as well, ushering him through the ring to Sarith's side. They weren't speaking, just studying him and Sarith as if they were the most fascinating things in the world.

Finally one of them said, in a nasal voice, "Just what kind of Digimon are you?"

Sarith looked to Tok, confused. He explained quietly that the creatures who lived here were all of a type of beings called Digimon. "We are not from around here," he continued, turning to the one Numemon who had spoken. "We're just visiting."

The ugly group of Digimon looked at each other, scratching their heads with their stubby arms. It seemed to take them forever to understand this. While they mumbled and gestured and jostled amongst themselves, Sarith and Tok took a look around. The deck was large and flat and made of wood, and there was another level above them. At one end a pool of water was shining in the sun, with a table and umbrella next to it. It all looked very interesting.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's going on here?" a loud and obnoxious voice unexpectedly cawed down from above them. Tok and Sarith's heads snapped upward, to see a larger Digimon glaring down. This was an off-white bird with red-tipped tail feathers and a navy blue crest, complete with a fanged beak. Larger than the both of them together, he made the two slightly nervous as he leaped down and landed on the deck.

"I said," the Digimon repeated irritably, his angry eyes now on the Numemon, "what's going on?"

The green and purple Digimon who had spoken to them first, who Tok assumed was some kind of leader of the bunch, came forward and cringed at the bird's clawed feet. "We're very, very sorry, Kokatorimon!" he wailed. "These strange creatures say they aren't Digimon! They just landed on the ship, and we were _just_ about to come find you—"

Ignoring the groveling Numemon, Kokatorimon strutted over to Tok and Sarith. The other Numemon scattered as he approached. He stared down them, and they returned the stare just as boldly. The tense moment was broken as the bird Digimon turned around and walked off. Casually, he called over his feathered shoulder as he vanished around the corner. "I have to get into my disguise. Lord Etemon will be very interested in these two. Capture them."

Immediately the Numemon whirled on the two creatures, the entire group radiating malevolence.

"What?" Sarith gasped, bewildered. "Who?"

"Questions later!" Tok shouted, shouldering her. "Fly now!" Her wings snapped open a split-second after his, and the two launched themselves skyward. Wind created from their takeoff momentarily blinded the Numemon crew, but the flyers knew it would only last for an instant. Tok led the way as they climbed almost completely vertical into the sky, but a screech from Sarith halted him in midair.

Tok's head jerked downward, and his blue-green eyes fell on the ship some fifteen feet below. Half the Numemon on deck were holding long fishing nets, which they twirled with their short arms and cast upward as if they were fishing in the sky. One of these had snagged around Sarith's tail and back feet. She twisted, snarled and snapped, beating her wings fiercely, but she was firmly caught and going nowhere. The Numemon began hauling the fish net down toward the deck, and her with it.

Tok growled, his eyes flashing with anger. Faster than a stooping falcon, he was diving at the ship. "Leave my sister _alone_!" he howled, and his voice was like furious thunder.

Many of the Numemon shrieked and fled the deck at the sound. But the one holding the net that snared Sarith remained. It looked frightened, but held on grimly. Several others grabbed onto the net to help reel the captured creature in.

Tok swept past Sarith, steadily zeroing in on the ship. As he swooped over the Numemon his jaws opened and he roared loudly. Following that roar was a blast of indigo-colored fire, the same shade as his body! The flame scorched the remaining Numemon, and they released the net and ran.

With expert ease Tok's wings spread and caught the wind, skimming him over the now-empty deck of the ship. Using the momentum gathered from his dive, he turned his downward plunge into a climb and rejoined Sarith. "Are you all right?" he asked breathlessly.

Hovering on unsteady wings, she finally managed to kick the entangling net off his back legs. "I'm fine," she muttered, but Tok could tell how upset she was by the look on her face.

"Come on, we're out of here," he announced, wheeling in the sky. She was right behind him as he sailed away from the horrible cruise ship and it's awful occupants as fast as his wings could take him.

* * *

For a long time they traveled in silence, side by side, so close their wingtips brushed together with each flap. Tok occasionally cast a worried glance over to his sister. Her lack of chatter told him volumes. She was in deep, serious thought. But Sarith wasn't one for deep thought, usually. For the most part, she was happy as long as she had interesting things to occupy her attention. Tok was worried.

Finally she sighed softly, her blue-green eyes sliding over to look at him. She caught him right in the middle of gazing at her, and gave a tentative smile that faded all too soon for his liking. "I didn't think. . . ." Sarith trailed off, then tried again. "I didn't think there would be such . . . evil, here. I wasn't prepared for it."

Despite himself, Tok couldn't help but snort and roll his eyes. "If you had waited a moment, you would have sensed their intentions yourself. But instead you dived in without a second thought, Sarith. You're too impulsive. I told you humans made this world. Did you honestly think it would be free of violence?"

She didn't immediately retort to his barbs, again out of character. Tok's jaw shut with a click. "You're right," she agreed, instead. "I should be more careful. It just . . . took me by surprise, that's all."

"Well, don't worry. You're safe now," he insisted, fluttering his left wing so a comforting breeze blew over her. "And this place has a lot of beauty and wonders too. It's not all bad."

The smile was brighter this time, and stayed. Sarith grinned cheekily as she did a little dip in the air. "Good! Show me these beauties and wonders. I'm bored!"

Tok stared incredulously. "You're intolerable!" he cried. But there was laughter in his voice, echoing the light feeling in his heart.

She ignored him and scanned the desert below. A tiny flash of green caught her eye. "Hey look, Tok! An oasis!"

He studied her find, frowning slightly. "There could be something there," he warned. "We should—"

"Oh calm down, Tok. _If_ we see anyone, _then_ we can make sure they're okay." This said, Sarith began a slow, even descent, carefully controlling the spilt air from her wings. Tok sighed with fond exasperation. Truth be told, he was pretty tired and thirsty himself. And they had been flying for over half an hour; he doubted the cruise ship would be able to find them now. Besides, he should be grateful she wasn't plunging in without thinking again. How much longer would Sarith be so cautious? _I'll bet my tail she's back to her normal self within the hour,_ Tok thought wryly, following his sister down to the earth.

The closer the duo got, the more detailed the oasis grew. It expanded in size and splendor, becoming a lake as large as a city block with groves of exotic palm trees clustered around the rim. Tok and Sarith touched down in the shade of one such clump of trees, neatly folding their wings along their sides. He arched his back and stretched like a serpentine cat, while she trotted to the water's edge for a drink.

"Now _this_ is my idea of vacation," yawned Tok, rolling onto his back. The sand was cool and comfortable in the shade, a vast relief from flying in the heat all day. He allowed his eyes to close as he relaxed. Slowly he felt his muscles unknotting, tensions ebbing away. No evil Digimon, no anyone. It was . . . peaceful.

For a moment. Then a heavy weight landed on his stomach, shooting the breath out of him. Tok gasped and shot upright.

"Lazy," laughed Sarith, a wicked twinkle in her eye. "We only get to be here a week, and you want to spend it asleep?"

"Yes!" he retorted, lying back down. "I'm tired and my wings hurt and I'm going to take a nap. Try not to get into too much trouble." Pointedly yawning, he let his head fall down to the sand and ignored her.

Sarith sniffed. "Party pooper." She turned on her heels and trotted away, leaving her brother in peace.

* * *

"I . . . I don't believe it!"

Sora didn't notice Tai had stopped until he spoke, and ended up almost walking right into him. The short-haired girl pulled up short.

"What is it?" T.K. asked.

He didn't immediately respond. Instead he fished his mini telescope out of his pocket and held it up to his eye, staring off into the distance ahead of them. The other Digi-Destined came forward to see what he was looking at.

"Why are we all standing around staring at a black dot?" demanded Mimi, tucking a strand of damp hair behind her ear. Being hot and tired, she wasn't in the best of moods.

"Because!" There was barely contained excitement in Tai's voice, and now they were all looking at _him_. "It's not a black dot!" he continued. "It's trees! And water!"

"Trees!" exclaimed Palmon.

"Water!" cried Gomamon.

"Let's go!" proclaimed Koromon, who had just woken up, with more vigor than he had shone for anything else since the SkullGreymon incident.

No one needed a second invitation. The group quickly picked up the pace until they were all running across the desert sand, leaving a long cloud of dust hanging in the air behind them. As they neared, Mimi's "black dot" developed into the green and blue expanse Tai had seen through his telescope. In awe—or exhaustion—the kids and their Digimon slowed at the edge of the oasis, coming to a stop just out of reach of the shade.

"It's a tropical paradise!" breathed Mimi, gazing longingly at the calm waters across the cool sand.

Matt's blue-eyed glare was suspicious. "Yeah, and a little too convenient if you ask me."

"Do you think it's a trap?" Joe gulped nervously.

"But how would Etemon know where we are?" Izzy pointed out sensibly. "Remember, we were transported far from the Koromon Village when Etemon attacked us, and at the Coliseum Sk. . . ." A glare from Tai. ". . . .Etemon's network was destroyed."

Gomamon wiggled out of his human partner's arms and dropped to the ground. "I don't care if it _is_ a trap!" announced the white and purple Digimon. "We can worry about that later!" He would have entered, but Joe made a hasty grab for his tail to keep him in place.

Tai finished looking around and glanced down at Koromon in his arms. By the expression on his face, his little Digimon shared Mimi's sentiment of the situation. "Let's go," he agreed, and started forward.

Matt frowned. "But Tai," he objected, "what about if—"

The brown-haired boy didn't look back. "If you're so _afraid_ Matt, you can wait in the hot sun while the rest of us take a break!"

Matt scowled but didn't say anything. Jamming his hands in his pockets, the blond followed Tai into the shade. Gabumon was right behind him. A tense, silent group of humans and Digimon came after.

The tall palm trees toward over them as the fourteen made themselves comfortable. Matt leaned against one of the trunks and slid to the ground, keeping a wary eye out as Gabumon sat down with a content sigh. Izzy plopped himself down and pulled out his ever-present laptop. Tentomon's sigh was more resigned than content. Gomamon immediately headed for the water, diving in with a splash and a happy hum. Running after him, T.K. lifted Tokomon off his hat and set him on the ground, and they both stopped at the water's edge.

"Watch this, Tokomon!" laughed the boy, picking up a small stone just under the water. He threw it at the lake and it skipped twice before falling beneath the surface. "Matt taught me how to do that," he said proudly.

"Wow!" squeaked the tiny Digimon.

Gomamon's head appeared in the water. "Hey, watch where you throw those things!"

"Oops, sorry." The two on the shore giggled quietly.

Joe took the opportunity to call hopefully to his Digimon, "Gomamon! Are there any fish in the lake?" It certainly looked big enough.

But the seal-like Digimon shook his head. "Nope. Sorry Joe. It's empty. There aren't even any water plants or anything." He stretched out on his back and floated.

The tall boy's shoulders slumped. "Then what are we going to do about food?" he moaned.

"Oh, we'll think of something," Sora spoke up cheerfully, laying on her back with her hands behind her head.

Tai carried Koromon to the edge of the lake, silently staring off across the water. His brown eyes were unfocused and far away, and the In-Training Digimon knew something was up. He poked his human friend in the side with the tip of one long ear. "Tai? Tai, what are you thinking?"

"Huh?" The boy blinked down at him and grinned a little foolishly. "Oh, sorry Koromon. I kinda spaced out there for a minute."

"Were you thinking about your home?"

He shrugged. "Some. Mostly about how to defeat Etemon, though. He's the strongest Digimon we've ever faced. I know we can beat him, but I just don't know how yet. I don't think we're strong enough right now."

"We'll think of something," insisted the Digimon. "You're the Digi-Destined after all."

That caused a chuckle. "Heh. Yeah. The Digi-Destined. Sent to banish evil Digimon, straight from some legend. . . ." As his voice trailed off Koromon looked up, and found Tai's eyes were once again gazing out over the water. But this time they were narrowed as he squinted, as if trying to make something out.

"What is it, Tai?"

"I thought . . . I saw something moving over there on the bank," the boy murmured after a moment.

"The trees?"

He shook his head. "There's no wind to move the branches. There must be something over there." Suddenly he turned around and addressed the group. Even Izzy looked up from his computer when Tai said, "I just saw something on the other side of the lake. Who wants to come with me to find out what it is?"

There was a minute of silence. Then Mimi, who had removed her boots and socks, sat down and put her feet in the water. "I'm not getting up," she informed him primly. "My feet hurt. You can go chase whatever you want without me."

Izzy was packing up his laptop, his eyes alight with curiosity. "Come on, Tentomon. I want to see what it is."

"Surprise, surprise," muttered the insect Digimon.

Sora sat up. "Are you sure we should be doing this? Maybe if we leave it alone, it'll leave us alone."

But Tai shook his head stubbornly. "We're going to be resting here for a while, probably all night," he told her, watching Joe as the tall boy searched the palm trees for coconuts. "I don't want any of Etemon's goons spying on us to make a sneak attack."

T.K. tugged on Tai's arm. "Can me and Tokomon come?" he asked in excitement.

Matt, who had been pointedly silent since the argument, immediately spoke. "No way, T.K. It's too dangerous!"

"Aww! But Matt—"

"No."

So eventually it was Tai, Sora and Izzy (along with Koromon, Biyomon and Tentomon) who set out around the rim of the lake to investigate. Tai had tried to convince Koromon to stay behind with the others because he was so weak, but the Digimon had refused. He wouldn't leave his human partner unprotected.

Soon the voices of the others faded behind them, and the groves of trees hid them from view. Izzy began theorizing on the possibility of desert Digimon, most of which went over Tai's head.

"Are you saying that all we're going to find is a digital camel?" he finally interrupted.

The short computer whiz broke off. "Not necessarily," he replied. "There are other desert animals besides camels."

"Like what?"

"Like rattlesnakes," Sora put in. She pictured a rattlesnake Digimon and shuddered, remembering Seadramon. "And scorpions too."

"Oh." Tai didn't really like the thought of that. But Biyomon and Tentomon could digi-volve to Birdramon and Kabuterimon if something attacked, and the others wouldn't be far behind if they saw a fight brewing. So what was there to worry about?

That was when the giggling began.

The six of them halted in their tracks, looking around in puzzlement. They couldn't tell where the sound was coming from. It seemed to bounce off the water to their left and the trees all around them. And it was definitely giggling, a high-pitched bubbly sound.

But before they could say or do anything, the torrent was cut off. They held their breath in the silence, ears straining. It was as if the whole Digiworld was holding its breath as well. Faintly, a conversation reached their ears.

Soft, harsh whispering.

"I couldn't help it. It was funny!" It was the voice that had been giggling.

"Shhhhh!"

"Oh, calm down. They're young; they won't hurt us. I'm coming out to say hello."

"What!?"

Tai and the others tensed as the voices stopped. Then, without further ado, one of the palm trees gave a brief shake and a green . . . something . . . dropped from the branches, landing lightly on the sand in front of them!

They stared at it. The whatever-it-was stared right back. It was about the size of Biyomon and Tentomon, mostly a minty green in color. The creature looked a lot like a lizard, except it had a pair of bat-like wings folded across its back, and pointed ears. The leathery membranes between the wing joints were golden-yellow, the same shade as a row of spines that started between its ears and traveled down the length of its back to its tail. Large, blue-green eyes with slits for pupils studied them openly. At least it had a friendly smile on its long snout, right below a little horn on its nose.

Tai was the first to speak. "What kind of Digimon is _that_?" the boy inquired, not taking his eyes off it.

Tentomon shook his head, mystified. "I've never seen anything like it," he commented. And coming from the Digimon that seemed to know everything about the Digiworld, that said a lot.

Everyone jumped when the creature gave a delicate little snort. "That's the second time I've been asked that today," she said in a very feminine voice, and she was indeed their giggler. "Honestly, is everything here a Digimon? Are _you_ asked if you're Digimon, humans?"

Nobody answered her. The Digi-Destined were still in shock. She frowned and sat down on her haunches, her tail curling around her front legs. "You were all talking just a moment ago. What happened?"

"Who—what are you?" Izzy questioned curiously.

The creature beamed. "Ah, you can talk! I knew you could. My name is Sarith. A pleasure to meet you." She bowed her head a bit in a proper greeting. "Well, I suppose it is, anyway," she continued, looking thoughtful. "If you were adult humans, it might be another matter. But you're too small. You must by children."

"Just what were you doing eavesdropping on us?" demanded Koromon from Tai's arm. The little Digimon's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

Sarith fluttered her wings a bit. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to. We were trying to hide from you, you see. I saw you when you spotted me across the lake." She was looking directly at Tai when she said this. "We figured you'd come after us, so we hid in the tree. But-but when you thought we were camels—" She broke off, giggling. "I couldn't help myself. Sorry." Her blue-green eyes sparkled with mirth.

Tai made several realizations upon hearing this. The first was that they couldn't possibly have come completely halfway around the lake yet, to the place where he saw the movement. So that meant Sarith was either lying about being the one who saw him or that she had been coming _toward_ them before she hid. And the second thing. . . .

"What do you mean by 'we'?" the leader of the Digi-Destined wanted to know.

An expression of surprise passed over Sarith's features. "Oh . . . ah. Yes, I said that, didn't I? Well, uh, it's a funny story actually . . . um. . . ."

A heavy sigh rent the air, and the tree Sarith sat under shook briefly again. Down dropped another one of the weird lizard creatures, looking a lot like the first. It had the same blue-green eyes and golden-yellow wings and spines as Sarith, except this one was blue-purple instead of green, and instead of a horn on its nose it had one above each eye, in front of its ears. And it wasn't giving Sarith a very friendly look.

She grinned sheepishly. "Ah, allow me to introduce my brother, Tok."

"Just how many of you are there?" Biyomon asked. The parrot Digimon looked very intrigued with the whole situation.

The indigo-colored one of the pair looked them all up and down as he answered shortly, "Just us."

"We're on vacation," Sarith explained.

"Shhhhh! Don't say so much! How do we know we can trust them?" Tok demanded.

"How do we know we can trust _you_?" Tai shot back.

"In case you haven't noticed," sniffed the male creature, "we are greatly outnumbered here." Despite his words, he didn't seem alarmed in any way.

Sarith slapped his snout with the tip of her tail. "Tok! You're being unreasonable. Let's all try to get along, instead of arguing." She turned back to the six. "Say, weren't there more of you?"

"Our friends stayed behind," Sora offered, trying to prove their trust. She didn't think these two creatures looked dangerous, and she figured they could all use more allies in the Digiworld. Maybe these things knew something about defeated Etemon or getting back home! And since Sarith took the chance by telling them something, she thought they could do the same in return.

The green one grinned, as if she realized what Sora was planning. "I know!" she declared. "Why don't we go back there and we can all introduce ourselves and tell each other our stories? Then we'd get to know each other!"

Tai, Koromon, Tentomon and Tok stared at her as if she had just declared herself queen of the Digiworld. Izzy had stopped paying attention about the time Tok had appeared. Now he stood apparently lost in thought. Sora and Biyomon believed it to be a great idea, and said so.

In spite of the fact that the girls were outnumbered, everyone soon learned just how persistent females—of any species—can be. In less than ten minutes all eight of them were heading back around the lake.


	2. New Friends

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A Little Side Adventure

Episode Two: New Friends

By Shelli-Jo Pelletier

(ussfantasy@hotmail.com)

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Sarith trotted beside Biyomon and Sora, happily chatting with the two and reflecting on the circumstances. She was glad to make new friends, and amazed that humans could be so nice! Brell always said that you should never let them see you in your true form, but he was old and even stuffier than Tok was. He did make a good teacher, though. She learned how to fly under his tutelage, and she could sense wind currents better than anyone.

The boy with brown hair and the little pink Digimon were walking in front of them, leading the way. Well, the boy did most of the walking. For some reason he wouldn't put the little pink Digimon down. _It's probably hard to walk with no legs,_ she mused.

Behind them Tok was stamping along, grumbling. He insisted on walking in the back so that none of the humans could sneak up on him. She thought he was being silly, but that was Tok. He was such a worrywart. Brell would have been proud. The shorter human boy and the insect Digimon were also back there, trying to get Tok to answer some questions. They weren't succeeding very well. She cocked a pointed ear back to listen.

"—so if you're not Digimon, you must have arrived in this world in a way similar to ours. And if you can leave again, I would really appreciate it if we could possibly discuss some ways. . . ." the human boy trailed off, and Sarith could just imagine Tok's look. She couldn't bite back a giggle.

"What is it?" asked Biyomon.

"I don't think Tok is cooperating with your friend."

Sora glance back at him and Izzy gave her a shrug.

A young boy's voice piped up far ahead of them, drifting to Sarith's ears through the still air and distracting her. "Look, Tai and the others are back! And they've got people with them!" There were other voices too. Sarith tried to see what was ahead of them, but Tai was in the way.

A very little human, dressed in green with blond hair under a helmet and bright blue eyes, ran up to meet them, followed by a little white rabbit Digimon with long ears. "Hi!" he said. "I'm T.K. and this is Tokomon. Who're you?"

Sarith grinned. "My name's Sarith. This is Tok, my brother." She turned and urged him to step up beside her. He did, grudgingly.

"Wow! I've got a brother too!" By this time everyone had clustered around in a big circle. T.K. pointed to a taller human boy that had the same hair and eyes as he did. "That's my big brother Matt. Hey Matt, Sarith's got a brother too!"

He was eyeing both of the lizard-like creatures. "I heard."

Tai made some hasty explanations about finding the two of them, then everybody settled down onto the ground, Tai on one side of the two newcomers and Sora on the other. Next on the agenda was introducing everyone. It took a bit of time, but eventually they all knew each other's name. Then Sarith, in the spirit of trust, offered to tell her and Tok's story first.

"Sarith!" he objected sharply. The possibility of fourteen against two was making him slightly uneasy.

Skillfully ignoring her sibling, Sarith stretched out comfortably on her stomach in the sand and began.

"As I said before, we're on vacation. Brell—he's our teacher—gave us the week off. But we have to be back in a week, or we'll get in trouble. Tok heard of this really cool place connected to Earth, so we decided to come here and check it out. . . ." She looked around at all the blank faces and chuckled. "Oh my. You all have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Just what are you two?" Izzy queried. "If you're not Digimon, and you're obviously not human."

Sarith paused, thinking. "Oh, what's that word? There's something you call us . . . it's . . . it's . . . oh, I know! Aliens!" she exclaimed proudly. "That's it! We're aliens!"

Everyone stared. Izzy's mouth was hanging open. "I knew it," he muttered faintly into the stunned silence, blinking a few times. "I just knew it."

"They're going to mutate into slimy things and eat us any second now," moaned Joe. "_I_ just know it."

Tok didn't like where this was going. "What's wrong?" he demanded, worried and suddenly remembering that sometimes humans overreacted about things like this. "That's the correct term, isn't it? Someone not from your nation or your world? Alien?"

T.K. hugged Tokomon to his chest. "Do you mean you're from outer space?"

"Well, another planet," Sarith clarified. "It's not even moving around your sun. It's somewhere else, far away. But we like to go to other planets and meet new people. It's fun!"

"How do you do it?" Izzy asked eagerly. "Can you travel faster than the speed of light?"

Tok snorted and rolled his eyes. "No," he shook his head impatiently. "We don't travel like humans think of traveling. Like, in math class you learn about going from point A to point B, right?" No one asked how he knew about what went on in their math classes. It didn't really seem important, given the circumstances. Besides, they were just as curious as Izzy now, and waiting to listen to Tok's answer. "The fastest way to get from point A to point B is to travel in a straight line from one to the other," the indigo creature stated. "But if you could just . . . ah, disappear from point A and reappear at point B, you wouldn't have to travel the line at all!" he finished triumphantly.

"Wow," was Gomamon's opinion. "Sounds a lot easier, all right."

"But how do you do that?" persisted the auburn-haired boy. "Have you developed technology that can do it?"

"No, no, no," laughed Sarith. "It's a part of us. We just _do_ it. It's like breathing. Well, not really, because you have to learn how to do it, and you don't learn how to breathe. I guess it's like learning how to swim, or riding a bike. You just practice until you can do it."

"It sounds like magic!" Mimi blurted out.

The two aliens exchanged a look. "Exactly," they said at the same time.

Tai shrugged. "It sounds like something out of a TV show to me, but this is the Digiworld after all. Anything can happen."

"And does," added Koromon.

"So I guess that answers that. But then what are you guys? I mean, we know you're aliens, but you have to have a name for yourselves. Like, we're humans, and they're Digimon." The boy leader pointed to Koromon in his lap. "So what are you?"

Sarith opened her mouth to answer the question, but she was interrupted by Izzy, who was once again tapping away furiously at his laptop. "They're dragons," he announced.

Mimi looked at Sarith and Tok doubtfully. "They don't look like dragons to me," she told him.

"That's because they're not Japanese dragons," Izzy replied, turning his computer around so that everyone could see the screen. It was split down the middle, and on the left there was a black and white picture of a serpent-like creature that appeared to be flying, even though it had no wings. It seemed to have a mane around its head and streamers coming off of its body, including two that made it look as if it had a mustache. Two legs and a portion of a third could be seen bent at strange angles.

On the right was a mostly brown and orange beast, this one looking much more like Sarith and Tok. Shaped a lot like a big lizard or dinosaur, it had two wings with membranes and horns on its head. And big fangs.

"The dragons from our culture are Oriental dragons," Izzy explained. "They're usually depicted in legends as benevolent and very wise, and in tune with nature. The other one's a western dragon, from European myths. They're supposed to breathe fire and go around rampaging villages and eating people. Supposedly, they were quite evil."

"You're right, but those are just stories," Sarith was hasty to point out. "A long time ago dragons used to go to Earth a lot. It's a really pretty place! When humans saw us they made stories about us, but some of the stories were really bad. They said we killed people and awful things like that. I think they were afraid, because dragons are so much bigger than they are and can do things they can't. So we started hiding from humans whenever we went to Earth, and then they didn't believe we were real anymore. And now they think we're just imaginary. The grownups think it's better that way." She sighed regretfully.

"Can you really breathe fire?" Gabumon wanted to know.

Tok frowned. "Well . . . yes. But it's strictly for self-defense!"

"I could too, when I was Agumon," Koromon reminded everyone. Tai silently looked away.

"Wait a minute, you said 'grownups,'" Sora realized. "Are you guys kids, like us?"

"Of course!" giggled Sarith. "You'd know if we were grownups. We'd be much bigger."

There was more talk after that. Mostly from Sarith and Tok, describing the dragon way of life and what had happened between when they first entered Digiworld and now. Then Tok informed the Digi-Destined that it was their turn to spill the beans.

Tai started. He explained how they had all been at summer camp, and how they had been pulled from their world by a swirling vortex in the sky. The narration fascinated the two dragons, but they couldn't tell the kids anything more than they already knew. Then the brown-haired boy related how he had first encountered Koromon, and the others took turns remembering how they had met their own Digimon partners.

"And that was when Kuwagamon showed up," Mimi shivered, "and the Digimon digi-volved! Tanemon became Palmon, and the Digimon were able to defeat that bad old bug."

"Well, we fell off a cliff, really," admitted the plant Digimon modestly.

The recounting went on for a long time. By the time the kids had gotten through the defeat of Devimon, and the strange little guy named Gennai who had called them to Server, the sun was sitting low on the horizon. And everyone was hungry.

"So," Tai concluded, "now we've got to find out how to get rid of this evil monkey dude named Etemon, and what are we going to do about dinner?"

"There are coconuts, but they're up at the tops of the trees," Joe reported.

"No problem!" Biyomon and Tentomon announced at the same time.

"We'll help too!" Sarith offered. Tok growled softly, but didn't object. The four flyers took off with a flutter of wings.

"Electro Shocker!" Coconuts bounced down to the ground.

"Spiral Twister!" More fell.

Sarith and Tok combined efforts on a single tree, and the coconuts dropped like rain. The grounded of the group gathered up the fallen fruit and split them open, and there was more than enough to go around. Between the milk and the white pulp inside, no one was hungry for very long.

"This is yummy!" T.K. exclaimed. Tokomon agreed wholeheartedly, the whole front half of his little round body buried in a coconut shell as he licked the inside clean.

After dinner they talked some more and relaxed. Tok was gradually dropping his guard. After all, the fourteen had shared their history and their dinner with them, even after knowing who and what they were. _The humans aren't so bad,_ he admitted privately to himself, watching Sarith and T.K. playing tag with Tokomon. _And the Digimon are likeable too._

When Sarith had first seen the humans on the opposite bank, she had all been for flying across and saying hello. He had desperately pointed out that they were probably now coming to look for them, hoping to knock some sense into his sister. But it had the reverse effect, and Sarith immediately set out to fly around the edge and meet up with the strangers looking for them. He had caught up just in time to convince her to hide, but that certainly hadn't lasted very long.

_Just because you don't sense any evil from someone doesn't mean you should just jump out and say hello,_ the dragon thought. _But I can't deny that meeting up with these people has been a nice experience. And as a group we're stronger and safer than if Sarith and I were alone. . . ._

"You're it!" giggled the mint green dragon, bumping into Gomamon and breaking Tok's train of thought. She galloped off in the other direction as the seal-like Digimon gave chase, and her brother couldn't help but chuckle.

Soon the sun set and one by one, the stars came out. The Digi-Destined, being city kids, had never seen so many stars before they came to Digiworld. Most of the time the bright city lights drowned out the night sky, but here they spread across the deep blue expanse like tiny jewels, winking and sparkling. A full moon rose, bathing the lake in its blue light.

"We should pick someone to be lookout and turn in," Matt voiced after a while. "It's getting pretty late."

Sarith looked over at the blond, interested. "A lookout?" she echoed. "What for?"

"Just in case we get attacked by digital camels," joked Tai, and there were tired chuckles. It was such a nice night, not too cold or windy, and the sixteen friends were enjoying themselves. When Matt explained about what had happened with Seadramon, Tok surprised his sister—and the others—by volunteering to take a turn at guard too.

So Joe and Gomamon settled in for an hour of vigil while the others got comfortable for the night. No fire was needed; it was plenty warm enough and the moon cast quite enough light to see by, reflected off the water.

"So Gomamon, know any good jokes?" murmured Joe quietly, not wanting to disturb the others.

"Sure," he answered cheerfully. "Okay, a Bakemon and a Numemon are walking in the woods, and the Bakemon says. . . ."

* * *

A gentle breeze blew by, bending Sarith's ears back slightly. She inhaled deeply with a smile on her face, then let it out in a content sigh. What a night to be alive.

The branch of the palm tree swayed under her as Tok landed, keeping his wings spread for balance as he returned from an airborne sweep of the area. Theirs was the last shift of the night. "What do you smell?" he asked softly, his blue-green eyes shining in the moonlight.

"Mostly sand," she grinned. "And water. If the wind shifts you can smell the humans and the Digimon. They smell funny. Makes my nose tickle when I think about it." She sniffed delicately.

He chuckled for the second time that night, and Sarith decided she liked it better then when he was snorting and rolling his eyes. It made him seem more grown up. As he settled down beside her, his words seemed to echo her thoughts. "If only Mom and Dad and Brell could see us now," he muttered with a shake of his head. "I don't know what they'd say."

"Aw, who cares?" she retorted. "I like our new friends. And besides, grownups are always such worrywarts. 'Don't talk to strangers,' 'don't let the natives see you,' 'don't go anywhere your not allowed,' don't do this, don't do that, don't blah blah blah." She made a face. "They don't let us have any fun!"

"Sarith, think for a minute. You're always running into situations without considering the consequences. What if these humans had been bad, like the Digimon on the ship? And we wouldn't have even had to deal with those Numemon or that Kokatorimon if you would have waited a minute and scanned for their intentions!" His words were a bit harsh, but his features were softened with worry.

Her face clouded over with the memory, and for a moment neither of them said anything. "Well," she finally mumbled, "at least now we know who that Etemon guy is."

Tok sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset."

"I know, I know. You're just looking out for me. I can take care of myself, you know."

"Yeah, just like you did on that ship!"

"I could have gotten loose!"

"Maybe."

"Huh." She looked away, annoyed and amused and touched all at once. If only Tok wasn't such a pain in the tail half the time. . . . She turned back to utter a witty reply, but the indigo-colored dragon was no longer paying attention to her. He was rigidly sitting upright, his ears perked straight up, head cocked to one side.

She recognized the seriousness of his posture. "What is it?" she whispered, listening as he was. She didn't hear anything, but something felt . . . wrong. She couldn't put it into words. Instead she looked around the landscape for something out of place, but nothing met her eyes either. The moon was setting, soon to slip below the horizon. Dawn would arrive shortly. Already the sky was lightening, the stars fading. Nothing moved out on the desert. "Tok?" He was always better at that sort of thing than she was.

"Shh," he warned. Now he was peering around, as if looking for anything she had missed. "Don't you feel it?"

"I feel something," the female breathed. "And I don't like it one bit. What is it, Tok?"

"Something bad. It's . . . I'm not sure. It's far away. But it's powerful, or else we wouldn't be able to pick it up. It's almost as if it's searching for. . . . Look, even the humans can feel it." He was now gazing down below, where the Digi-Destined and their Digimon slept. Before they had been dreaming peacefully, but now they tossed and turned, as if having nightmares. T.K. whimpered in his sleep and hugged Tokomon tightly. Tai muttered something about Devimon.

Sarith swallowed, beginning to feel frightened. Humans only had five senses as far as she knew, while dragons had six, including the ability to tell a being's evil or benevolence. She had no clue as to the Digimon, but if the Digi-Destined could subconsciously feel the malevolence in the air, it must be powerful indeed. "Should we wake them?"

"No." Tok shook his head. "They're humans. They wouldn't understand."

She tensed and spread her wings. "They're suffering," she growled, preparing to leap down. "I want to help them."

But he caught the end of her tail firmly in his mouth. "Don't move!" he hissed.

Glaring, she whipped her tail free. "What's your problem?"

He was ignoring her again. Looking out over the desert, he appeared to be deep in thought. A fierce expression of concentration crossed his face. Wondering and worried, Sarith settled down to wait for her brother to speak again.

The silence stretched out over a minute, then ten. Tok made no move and no sound, and barely appeared to be breathing. Sarith anxiously waited for a sign of life. She had never seen him act this way before. Several times she made as if to jump to the ground and wake the others, but each time she decided against it at the last second. Concern for her brother kept her rooted in the branches of the palm tree, gazing at his motionless form.

_What is he doing?_ she wondered as she gently called his name, trying to gain his attention. Tok didn't respond, even when she shook him. What if this was someone else's doing? What if it had him entranced, and was planning on attacking their group? What if she was next? What if—

"Sarith."

She shrieked and leapt into the air, pumping her wings furiously. Whirling around in midair, she snarled, "That was _not_ funny, Tok—"

"Sarith, be quiet for once and listen," the dragon ordered flatly. His solemn demeanor doused her ire, and she fluttered back to her spot.

Her brother's eyes were feverishly bright. "I put myself into a trance," he explained. "There isn't time to tell you everything, but there's an evil out there that _is_ searching for something. It's using a sense similar to ours. Except instead of being able to look at a being and sense it's intentions, this thing's power is much more broad, and it can search a wide area and zero in on whatever it searches for." He paused. "It's seeking out a disturbance caused by the presence of creatures not of this world. That means it's not searching for Digimon. And _that_ means they're either searching for us, or. . . ."

"Or the humans," she finished for him, gazing down at the sleepers sadly. "But couldn't it be that it's searching for someone else? I mean, we can't be the only ones in the entire Digiworld who aren't supposed to be here."

"That could be true, except in the last ten minutes it's been heading steadily toward us. It moves very fast. Unless there are some other dragons, humans or other aliens very nearby, this evil force has got a lock on us and is zeroing in. We don't have much time."

Sarith gulped, her mind spinning. She had had no idea Tok could do what he just said he did. Brell worked with each of them separately on their strongest abilities, and they rarely asked each other about what happened during the lessons. They were personal experiences. She remembered when the old dragon had taken her for three nights out into the mountains near home. It was the first time she had spent the night without her parents, and she had been, well, scared. But when she and Brell had returned, there was no one in the Clan who could fly as she could.

Tok must have been learning to fine tune his sixth sense or something like that, she decided. "What can we do?" the mint-colored dragon appealed.

He gave her a calculating look. "I've thought of something . . . but I'll need your help. And there isn't time to ask questions, you'll just have to agree or refuse." He pressed his lips together thinly, which told her that he didn't like the idea at all, but couldn't think of any other way.

Sarith couldn't imagine of what he was planning. Despite what he had said, she asked, "What do you have planned?"

"Well, I doubt this evil is searching for dragons. I don't know of any dragons who have ever come here besides us. Remember what a hard time we had convincing Mom to let us go alone? And this world is so closely linked to Earth, it would make much more sense that it would be seeking the humans. According to what they said, they have the power to save both their world and this one from evil. Maybe one of their enemies is tracking them down."

Sarith's jaw was on the ground. During her brother's small speech her blue-green eyes had grown bigger and bigger, as what Tok was proposing dawned on her. It was . . . preposterous! It had never been done on a creature other than a dragon, and _he_ had surely never done it at all! Did he really care about their new friends so much? How did he know how to do it? Would it even work? What would happen if it did?

_But what would happen if it doesn't?_ a tiny voice whispered inside her. That evil would be here soon, and if it was tracking the humans. . . .

"Let's do it!" she declared impulsively, turning to Tok with eager eyes. "Tell me what to do."

He grinned, and she could tell he was relieved, glad he had her support. It sparked a warm feeling in her chest that her brother depended on her so. "Just stay there and don't move. You have to trust me."

"Of course I trust you, Tok," she assured him. "I just hope they forgive us for what we're about to do."

Tok tried to reassure her in turn. "They will, once we find enough time to explain. But that's a luxury we don't have now."

She looked down at the Digi-Destined and their Digimon. She glanced at the moon, just a tiny sliver still above the horizon. Finally she gave her brother one slow, deliberate nod.

He began immediately. She watched curiously as he sat back on his haunches, raising his front claws, clenched, into the air with his wings spread and tail held out to balance himself. She watched his eyes close, his horned head tip back as he faced the lightening sky. When his fists began to actually glow with a soft, opalescent light she could barely contain a gasp of surprise.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, she was exhausted. Each muscle weighed a ton, refused to respond, and it took a conscious effort for her thoughts to make sense. It felt like she hadn't slept in weeks, as if the strength had been drained right out of her. She could barely keep her eyes open.

With the last of her willpower, the dragon forced herself to keep an eye on her brother. The swirling glow rose from his claws, expanding until it was a wide, radiant disk. As it began to descend to the ground Tok collapsed, as weak as she was. The palm tree swayed but held both their limp bodies. _Hope you know what you're doing, Tok,_ was her last coherent thought as the darkness of unconsciousness grabbed her and pulled her down into its whirling depths.


	3. Tok's Decision

****

A Little Side Adventure

Episode Three: Tok's Decision

By Shelli-Jo Pelletier

(ussfantasy@hotmail.com)

***************

Sunlight streaming through the branches overhead woke Sora, shining directly in her eyes. She blinked a few times and squinted, still half asleep. With a yawn and a stretch the girl sat up. The movement felt kind of funny, and she absentmindedly wondered if she had slept wrong and pulled a muscle or something. A quick glance to her side told her Biyomon still slumbered. But when Sora looked around for the others, she got quite a shock and snapped fully awake.

Everyone was gone.

Not only that, but she was surrounded by more dragons! These ones were a lot bigger than Tok and Sarith, whom she couldn't see anywhere. These were as big as she was! At least they were still asleep, and she could sneak away.

Sora's mind reeled with questions. Who were these dragons? When did they get here, and why? And what about her friends? What had happened to them? Was this whole thing some kind of trap? Had Sarith and Tok tricked them?

Staring around in complete shock, too dazed to even make a break for it, she eventually noticed that the Digimon were still there, asleep as well. She could see Gabumon's pointed horn from around the side of a snoring yellow dragon with blue wing membranes and spines. Gomamon was leaning against an entirely gray dragon. Koromon rested wrapped up in the tail of a blue dragon with orange wings and spines. And there were three other dragons as well, she quickly counted. A green one, a pink one and an orange one.

It was the Digi-Destined who were gone, she realized in horror. She was the only human left. But why hadn't they taken her too? Where were the others?

_I have to get control of myself,_ the short-haired girl thought desperately. _First I'll—I'll wake up Biyomon. Then we can wake up the rest of the Digimon. Carefully. And get away. Then we have to find Sarith and Tok and find out what's going on. . . ._

Sora's breath caught in her throat as one of the dragons turned over, murmuring sleepily. Parilyzed with indecision, not knowing whether it would be better to run now or take a chance that the waking creature would quiet down again, she sat with every muscle frozen.

No such luck. The pink dragon slowly opened pale green eyes, staring right at her. For a moment time seemed to stand still as nothing happened. Then it bolted to its feet, bowling Palmon over in the process, and screamed.

That woke everyone else up quick enough. In seconds Sora was surrounded by alarmed dragons and bewildered Digimon, all staring about wildly. She could tell everyone was confused. They looked at each other as if never seeing such a sight before, murmuring uncertainly. "What's going on here?" the blue dragon finally announced loudly into the crowd.

Silence fell. Sora felt as if she had been slapped in the face and punched in the gut at the same time. They all turned to stare at the blue and orange dragon in complete and total disbelief. _That dragon . . . spoke . . . with Tai's voice!_

"T-Tai?" gasped Sora into the stillness. And gulped, as they were all looking at her now.

The blue dragon's yellow-orange eyes narrowed with suspicion, then widened. "How did you know . . . Sora?"

"Of course. I. . . ." Something was wrong. The expressions on the others' faces . . . they were the same as hers. Even Biyomon was staring as if she didn't recognize her. Sora slowly looked down at her hands. At her bright red, reptilian claws. "No!"

"I'm scared," whimpered the green dragon, huddling next to Tokomon. The little In-Training Digimon nuzzled his yellow wing.

"We've been transformed," the orange one marveled.

"Is that you, Matt?" Gabumon asked, peering at the yellow dragon.

"I think so," he returned, blinking blue eyes.

Sora tried to order her brain into some semblance of organization. So many little things that hadn't seemed quite right made sense now. That was why she felt kind of weird when she woke up. And she hadn't really noticed before, but the Digimon weren't the right size. Instead of Biyomon being waist high to her, they were about equal, staring each other in the eye. She glanced at each of the Digi-Destined, trying to figure out who was who. The dragons all looked alike to her, except for their coloring and the number and position of horns on their heads. But they were easy enough to identify from their voices, if she listened. Not to mention the fact that their Digimon all hovered around nearby.

The blue and orange one was Tai. He had two horns on the top of his head, pointing slightly forward, just like Tok. And the yellow one with blue wings, spines and eyes was Matt. He had two horns on the top of his head and another on his nose. The pink dragon with pale green wings and spines and two horns on her head that angled backward—currently wailing to Palmon about her lack of hair—had to be Mimi.

The green one with yellow wings and spines was a bit smaller than the rest of them, but still bigger than Tokomon. That made him T.K. He sported horns like his brother, except these were just tiny nubs, not yet real horns. Izzy was the orange one with purple wings and spines, reddish brown eyes and no horns at all. He was deep in conversation with Tentomon, who was not very happy about the situation. The formerly human boy, on the other hand, was simply fascinated. And Joe was completely gray except for his dark blue eyes, and with a nose horn like Sarith. He looked positively sick. Gomamon was trying to console him.

Like Sora, the others were also identifying each other. It felt sort of strange, introducing yourself to friends you've known for so long. And it felt even stranger hearing their voices coming from creatures that weren't even supposed to exist.

"Okay," Tai broke into the milling conversations. "Does everyone know who everyone else is?" There were nods all around. "Good. Now we just have to figure out what to do next."

"We need to find Tok and Sarith," Matt said flatly. "Get them to change us back."

"But what if they can't?" moaned Joe. "What if we're stuck like this forever?" His dark blue eyes rolled around in his head as he stared about wildly. T.K. gasped and edged closer to Matt.

The yellow dragon gave Joe a dirty look, his tail twitching back and forth like an angry cat's. "That's not helping anyone, Joe," he snapped.

"Not helping!? Look at me! I've got wings and four legs and a tail! Don't talk to me about not helping!"

"And I've got _no hair_!" the pink dragon shrieked once again, her eyes squeezed shut to block out the awful sight. "And _horns_ growing out of my head! And I'm _positive_ being a slimy lizard is going to ruin my complexion."

Palmon sighed. "Oh Mimi."

"Let's not panic," Sora found herself saying, standing up to go over to Mimi. As the only girls of the group, the two often relied on each other for support. But as soon as she took her first step, the red dragon tripped over her own legs and sprawled face first into the sand. She picked up her head and blinked in surprise. "Uh . . . gee. Walking with four legs is a lot harder than walking with two," she stated to the group.

The others, realizing that they hadn't done any walking either, gave it a try. Gomamon and Tokomon instructed the new four-footers. "Try not to think about it," was their best advice. It didn't help much.

"If you think that's hard, try walking with no legs at all!" joked Koromon. He bounced alongside Tai, who was slowly moving one foot at a time, alternating opposite legs front and back.

"I wonder if we can fly too," Izzy mused, spreading his purple wings to their fullest experimentally. Unfortunately this tipped him off balance, and he tumbled to the ground. It wasn't a far fall, of course, but it knocked his expectations flat.

"Let's work on walking first," suggested Tentomon kindly, helping him up again.

"Matt, what if Joe's right? What will we tell Mom and Dad?" T.K. wondered unhappily, his gleaming white eyes wide with worry as he stared up at his brother.

"Joe's not right," insisted the lemon-colored dragon. "As soon as we find Tok and Sarith, they'll fix us. Don't worry 'bout it, little bro." He smiled down at T.K. encouragingly.

Izzy overheard. "That's assuming they're the ones behind this metamorphosis," the orange dragon pointed out. "Perhaps they have nothing to do with it."

"I never even thought of that," Matt admitted. He didn't like the notion. It felt better thinking they knew exactly what to do and who to look for to change themselves back. "But we still have to find them. They were the last to stand guard last night. What if something happened?"

Biyomon saw Sora, finally in control of her limbs, heading for the lake. The pink parrot gazed at her for a minute, then followed. "Sora, where are you going?" she asked as she caught up.

"To look at my reflection," was the reply. The two of them stepped up to the still water's edge at the same time. Sora took a deep breath, preparing herself, then leaned over and stared.

A deep red dragon stared back at her with bright yellow eyes. She didn't have any horns on her head. She gazed at the reflection for a long time, thinking. Finally she said, "Biyomon, what do you see?"

Her Digimon was quiet. Then, "I see my friend. What do you see?"

A sigh. "I'm not sure. I'm all confused. I want to know who's behind this, and why."

"We'll find out. Until then, don't worry. You're still Sora, no matter what you look like. Inside you're still the same."

"Yeah. Inside," murmured the girl softly, watching the alien lips of the image move as she spoke. Biyomon couldn't tell if she believed it or not. She wrapped a pink wing around her companion comfortingly. Sora sighed again. Her breath rippled the water's surface. When it cleared, six other dragon faces were lined up beside hers, also staring into the lake. The Digi-Destined gazed at their bizarre reflections, silent and thoughtful.

"Looks like you're the ones with the wings this time," Tokomon told T.K. in his high voice.

"And when you digi-volve to Patamon, we'll both have them!" he returned, smiling. "If I'm still a dragon by then, anyway." The youngest of the Digi-Destined accepted their situation the easiest. To him it was just one more wild adventure in the Digiworld.

"What are you all doing just standing around?"

The very familiar voice from above and behind startled them, and they collectively whirled around with their heads craned upward. The two missing dragons—real dragons—stared down from the branches of a palm tree. Sarith yawned sleepily, but Tok was wide-awake and glaring. "Don't just stand there!" he ordered impatiently, spreading his golden wings and gliding to the ground as he spoke. "We have to move. Right now."

For a full minute, there was silence. Then everyone began talking at once.

"What did you—?"

"Why did you—?"

"_How_ did you—?"

"—thought you were our friend!"

"IS IT PERMANENT!?"

"Change us back! Now!"

"How dare you—"

"—could've asked us first!"

"What about—"

"—better start talking!"

_"Quiet!"_ roared the twilight-colored dragon, and a burst of blue-purple fire shot from his jaws. It dissipated in the air immediately, but succeeded in stunning everyone to silence. No one seemed to remember Izzy's earlier comment about the real dragons perhaps not being behind their transformations. Since Tok and Sarith hadn't seemed surprised about their new looks, it had been assumed they knew what was going on.

"Now we leave." Tok turned to go. A glance over his shoulder told him no one had moved. Not even his sister.

"Sarith?"

She fluttered down from the tree, her blue-green eyes uncertainly alternating between her brother and the Digi-Destined with their Digimon. Finally, to the newly transformed dragons, she implored, "Please come with us. There's a great evil heading this way, and we must not be here when it arrives. Tok will explain everything as we go, I promise. Please."

The seven former humans looked at one another. Tai ran through everything that had happened since they met up with these aliens in his head. He was looking for answers, but all he found were more questions. Were they telling the truth? Was it some sort of trap? If it was, they could have attacked last night when they were all asleep. Or maybe they did. But what sort of an attack turned them into dragons? What purpose did it serve? Were they really just trying to help them, like they said? The questions just went around circles, getting him nowhere.

Suddenly he came upon a single realization: They were now in the shape of dragons. Obviously. And the only chance they had to return to normal was to go along with Sarith and Tok. It was the only way. They had no choice.

Scowling, Tai eyed the aliens. "Okay, we're coming with you. But you have a lot of explaining to do."

The two blue dragons locked gazes for several tense moments. Tok was the one to ultimately nod and turn away. "Come on," he announced, spreading his wings. "Let's go."

Now it was Sarith's turn to snort and roll her eyes. She trotted up to her brother's side. "Tok, they can't fly. It could take months to teach them," she murmured quietly.

He turned back once again to stare at them. They stared back. "Right," he sighed, letting his wings fold close. "Then we walk."

The sixteen set out immediately. Tok led the way with a determined look on his face, followed closely behind by Sarith. The space after her was a sign of the tension between the duo of dragons and the others. Then came Tai, with Koromon riding on his back between his wings. T.K. gamely kept pace with his brother, but was now too small to carry Tokomon. Gabumon took that responsibility. The rest of the dragons and their Digimon spread out behind them in an informal line, occasionally passing worried glances between them.

Despite what Sarith had promised, there were no explanations. Uncomfortable silence reigned. After what seemed like much too long a time trudging along, the group neared the edge of the oasis, where the palm trees stopped and the endless sand began. Tok momentarily paused, his head up to test the wind. Blue-green eyes roved the desert, searching.

"Come here," he murmured softly, and everyone heard him. With only a slight hesitation, the Digi-Destined and their Digimon clustered around Tok and his sister. The male dragon pointed with one claw.

On their right, the sun was rising over the land. But Tok was pointing to the left. A dark gray haze stretched across the western horizon, looking like an ugly, dirty mist creeping over the sand.

"W-what is it?" gasped Joe, shivering. He didn't like the look of it at all.

"Evil," Tok muttered, fangs bared.

T.K. moved closer to Matt. "Is it coming for us?"

"I dunno."

Tok shook his head, but he wasn't answering T.K.'s question. It was more a snap to his senses. "We'll head north," the dragon announced. "We don't have much time. It's coming this way."

The oasis where this adventure had all began disappeared behind them as they started off again, and soon there was nothing but sand on every horizon. The going was slow—the Digi-Destineds' legs were a lot shorter now—and the heat enveloped them like an uncomfortable blanket once they were away from the lake. No one had had any breakfast either. They weren't tired (yet), but they were unhappy. And they still didn't have any answers.

Tok alone was the only one with any idea what was going on. Even Sarith was as clueless as the others were. Her brother's thoughts whirled like the sand in the wind as they traveled. The evil he could sense pulsed against his mind, a loose tooth he couldn't leave alone. It was close. Much closer than it was when he had first become aware of it. That told him it was still heading toward their previous position. When he had transformed the seven humans into dragons—an act that had cost most of both his and Sarith's energy—he knew the evil would no longer be able to track them.

_Let's be honest now, Tok,_ the dragon told himself sarcastically. _You don't know anything. This is all a gamble. What if the evil can track dragons as easily as it can humans?_ He knew that was unlikely, though. Most beings encountered by dragons couldn't sense them, if they had the power to at all. It was a kind of biological protection against detection. That was another reason Tok felt that the evil must be searching for the humans, and not them.

The young dragon cast a glance at his sister and felt a pang of anxiety. When they had first come to Digiworld he had planned on just relaxing and having fun, in his own way. Tok knew he wasn't the most laid-back of individuals, but he still didn't like to be on-guard all the time. Then the experience aboard the cruise ship taught him that there were dangers here. Sarith was never careful; it was his duty to protect her. Now not only did he have to look after her, but a group of seven humans as well! He was doing the best he could with all these pressures, but he wondered if that was going to be enough.

_It'll have to be. Maybe the evil was searching for the humans, maybe for us. I don't know for sure, but I made a decision and followed through with it. Now we just have to see what happens, and react in kind._

"Tok?" He looked over his shoulder as the blue and orange dragon trotted up beside him. Tai blinked his yellow-orange eyes. "What's going on, Tok? What happened?" His voice wasn't angry anymore; he merely wanted to know.

The stragglers of the gang of sixteen clustered closer as the two blue dragons started to speak. Tok related what had happened the previous night, what they had sensed while they had been standing watch, his decision, and what they had done. "It's not something that I'm really supposed to do, except in emergencies," the dragon admitted. "And we're supposed to make ourselves resemble other species, not the other way around. I didn't even know if it would work. But I had to try. Because . . . well, because I didn't want the evil to claim you." If a dragon could blush, Tok was doing so now.

He cleared his long throat and continued, explaining how he thought they were safe now. "Whatever that evil is, if it can't sense us anymore, then we should get far away from the last place it could. It will probably head there to see what happened." He fell silent, thinking.

Mimi tripped over her pink tail, caught herself, and spoke up. "But you can change us back, right?"

Tok grinned. "If I did it once, I can't see why I won't be able to do it again!"

The Digi-Destined heaved sighs of relief. Koromon cheered, waving his long ears in the air. "I knew you'd be alright!" The other Digimon lightened up as well. Now that that immense weight had been lifted from the shoulders of the kids, the future looked much more positive.

Izzy, who had been watching his clawed feet in fascination as he walked, suddenly jerked his head up and screeched to a stop. "Wait a minute! Where's my laptop!?" In the shock of everything that had happened that morning, he had completely forgotten about it.

"And my hat!" exclaimed Mimi, looking around as if she had dropped it just now.

"And our digi-vices, and Crests," Tai added, sharing a worried look with Joe, the only other person who had found his yet.

"And our _clothes_," put in Sora.

Tok motioned for everyone to remain calm. "Don't worry. They're all still there. They're inside of you."

Somehow, this failed to reassure anyone. "What do you mean?" T.K. wondered.

"I mean," explained the indigo dragon, "that everything in your possession was altered as you were, and formed into your selves. It's hard to explain. Like, um . . . the things that made up what you were before are still there now, just changed. I didn't put you in new bodies as much as changed your old ones."

Izzy looked like he was beginning to understand. "Do you mean you changed us on the molecular level, reconstructing the atoms of both our bodies and of our belongings to thoroughly alter our basic matter?"

Tok blinked. "Uh . . . yeah."

"Then theoretically, when you change us back, our articles of clothing and possessions should return too. Correct?"

"As far as I know."

This settled, the band started walking again. Joe, in the back with Gomamon, now worried that all of them were completely naked. But since the Digimon always were, and nobody seemed to be concerned with it, he tried to put it out of his head. Besides, there wasn't much they could do about it out in the middle of the desert.

The next two hours passed uneventfully. The talking lessened, as the further they went the more they had to concentrate on continuing. There was never a change in the oppressive heat that beat down on them from the sky, and breezes were few and far between. Their stomachs called for breakfast.

"Sand, sand, sand," Sarith grumbled, pacing along. "This is so boring!" She beat the air a few times with her wings, but didn't take off. Grains of sand swirled away from her on the currents made by the movement. She looked around the group and brightened. "At least we're nice and colorful! Red, orange, yellow, two greens, two blues, gray and pink! And that doesn't even count the Digimon."

"We're a regular rainbow," muttered Matt with a toss of his horned head.

"How _did_ we arrive to be at these particular colors?" Izzy asked, his curious reddish brown eyes on Tok. The two of them had taken to traveling side by side up front, where Izzy had pelted the dragon with questions until he ran out of breath. Tentomon came behind them, along with Sarith.

Tok considered the question. "I think it has to do with the colors of your 'atoms' before the transformation," he replied.

The orange dragon nodded. "T.K., Tai and I are all the same colors as our shirts," the boy mused, no longer really talking to Tok but more thinking out loud. "It justifies Mimi. And Matt's blond." He craned his long neck around and looked at his own wings. "But that doesn't explain why I've got purple. Well, except for my shoes."

The blue-purple dragon smiled mysteriously. "Perhaps it is your Soul Color."

Sora, who had been listening (there wasn't much else to do), was the one to ask. "A what?"

"Soul Color!" Sarith piped up. "They say everyone's born with a Soul Color, the color that's inside of you, that represents who you really are. Maybe your true color has come forth, now that you're a dragon!" She giggled, not looking very serious.

Tai joined in on the conversation. "Who's 'they?'" the blue dragon asked.

"Oh, the Elders. And the Wise Ones." She made a face, managing to look extremely similar to a kid remembering a preachy sermon in church. Koromon laughed.

"Uh . . . I don't want to ruin the moment," spoke up Joe nervously from behind them, "but shouldn't that cloud thing have gone away by now?"

Everyone turned to see what the gray dragon was talking about. He and Gomamon were also turned around, gazing back the way they had come.

The gray haze was directly behind them. And not all that far away.

Tok said a particularly nasty swear.

"Tok?" Sarith's voice quaked with fear.

"I'm not certain if the Digimon could battle a _cloud_," faltered Izzy, staring. "Even if they could digi-volve with the reconfigured digi-vices—"

Tok's voice overrode the orange dragon's, commanding authority. "It's following us! Run!" He spread his golden wings and took off, circling the group as he gained altitude. "Sarith, keep going! I'll find out exactly what it is!"

_"Tok! NO!"_ she called after him, but he caught the wind and sailed off.

The Digi-Destined and their Digimon stared uncertainly, either behind them at the shrinking spec that was Tok or at the distraught Sarith, who was visibly holding herself back from taking off as well. Finally the mint-colored dragon sighed, a sound of painful hopelessness, and turned. "Come on," she announced sadly, and started to walk. "We have to go."

* * *

Tok flew with powerful beats of his wings, covering the distance between his friends and the gray cloud quickly. _Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ he cursed himself, each berating word punctuated by another flap. _I'm such a fool. How could I forget to watch behind us? What if Joe hadn't spotted it? It could have snuck up on us and attacked without warning. This is all my fault. I'm an idiot!_

He had been wrong. Whatever the evil was, it was hunting dragons. That was the only explanation. He had done his best, but in reality he had just been giving their opponent a stronger target! Now it had nine dragons to track, not just two. The realization that he had made things worse, not better, stung badly. If Sarith or the others were hurt because of his stupidity. . . .

Well, he couldn't think about that now. It was his responsibility to stop whatever this thing was. He didn't know how he could do it, but he had to try. Because it was his fault. All. His. Fault.

Casting a glance over his shoulder, he found the group of his friends and sister had disappeared in the distance. Good. They were safe, for now at least. It was a small comfort.

The great cloud of dark mist rose up before him, almost close enough to touch. Tok pulled back, climbing up into the sky. If he could get above it, maybe he could see some sort of weakness.

Billowy grayness flashed by as he pumped his wings to gain height. No matter how hard he peered into the seething mass, nothing met his eyes. The soup was just too thick to see into. Not to mention it seemed to go on forever. Just how high did this cloud reach?

The air was growing cold and thin when he finally topped the haze. Trying to save energy, the young dragon stilled his furious wing beats and glided for a while, coasting above the grayness. It spread across the landscape like an ugly quilt, reaching out to cover and obliterate all that it saw. Tok swallowed. What could it be doing? Why was it here, really?

He got his answer all too soon. Even as he watched, unbelieving, a thin mass of the stuff—a tendril, an offshoot of some kind—came hurtling up toward him like a whip. He was no master of flight that Sarith was, but he was good enough to roll to the side just in time to avoid being snatched up by the thing.

_Gotta get out of here. Away. Higher._ He pumped his wings, frantic now, as other tendrils began reaching upward, _searching_ for him. Wanting him in their grasp. . . .

Tok climbed steadily into the already thin air. His throat constricted on its own, refusing his efforts to unclench it. His lungs seemed to collapse in on themselves. No matter how hard he tried to breathe in, it was as if they had forgotten how to work. His wings faltered. Once. Twice.

_Can't . . . breathe. . . ._ There was no air. He was too high! The sky was darkening around him. He could almost imagine he could see the blackness of space, the tiny pinpricks of stars.

When the cold, surprisingly gentle tentacle of cloud wrapped itself around his body, pulling him to earth at speeds so fast his blue-green eyes blurred with tears, he only had one thought.

_I'm so sorry, Sarith._

Then the main mass of the haze enveloped him into its center, and the world went black.

* * *

The blue-purple dragon regained consciousness abruptly, and found the darkness had not left him. It was so complete he couldn't see a thing, even though he blinked a few times to make sure his eyes were really open.

_When one thing does not work, try another,_ was one of Brell's favorite expressions, drilled into him by the stern old teacher like the rest of his lessons. It was an extremely helpful thing to consider in almost any situation, and Tok decided to employ a bit of that wisdom and follow his teacher's advice. So one of his senses didn't work. He would use the others, then.

It was cold, wherever he was. No breeze, just a heavy cold in the air, as if underground where the sun never came. When he took a breath—it felt so wonderful to breathe!—the impression he got was mostly stone. Wet stone, with mildew. And the strong smell of something metal. Iron, maybe.

That was what he felt under him, he realized. Solid, rough metal under his claws and stomach. He tried to move, and started a little in surprise when the ground under him moved too. It rocked, swaying back and forth when he froze. It seemed to be free to move except for one fixed point above him. There was a noisy creek from not far over his head.

Suddenly, a hissing in the blackness. And a voice. Tok's pointed ears perked at the soft and dry sound. "He's awake."

He shivered. There was evil in that voice. He could sense it.

Sounds of more movement, not too far away, maybe across a room. But no light. Could these creatures see in the dark? He sure couldn't. Not in this total blackness.

There was a brush of cloth on cloth. A clicking of a tongue. "Awww!" a female's voice whined, and something made him shrink back a fraction with unease. "I didn't want him awake yet! How can I pay attention to him and get the rest of them at the same time?" the voice pouted.

The first one hissed again. "Shall I fix the situation for you?"

"Please do, Jakamon," purred the female.

Tok reached out blindly with his arms, feeling for a way out. His claws scraped against vertical bars of metal, surrounding him. A cage—

"Swift Punch!"

The pain caught him totally unprepared, the force of the blow picking him up and smashing against the bars behind him. He felt the back of his skull slam against the metal, felt more pain and stars burst before his sightless eyes, and then felt nothing at all as unconsciousness claimed him once again.


	4. Separated

****

A Little Side Adventure

Episode Four: Separated

By Shelli-Jo Pelletier

(ussfantasy@hotmail.com)

***************

"Keep running!" Matt shouted unnecessarily, trying desperately _not_ to think about what his feet were doing, because if he did he knew he was going to trip and fall flat on his face. Keeping pace with his struggling brother, who was having a much harder time of it at the back of the group, he cast a glance at Sarith. She also ran beside the youngest dragon, and had refused to leave his side since they saw the seething mass of familiar clouds on the horizon barreling toward them. Gabumon, still carrying Tokomon, panted on the golden dragon's right.

Sick with dread for her brother, Sarith had thought about taking off herself more than once. Take flight, find out what had happened to Tok, why he hadn't returned to them. But something kept her by the side of the two brothers at the tail of the group. Tai and Koromon had taken over the lead, and the real dragon didn't mind a bit. She was much too confused and worried to be thinking like a leader now.

The small green dragon gasped as he ran, trying hard to go as fast as the others. T.K. didn't want to be holding everyone back, but it was _hard_ to run when you were a dragon!

Without warning, Joe and Gomamon screeched to a halt in front of them, and they barely stopped in time to keep from crashing into the pair. Harsh breathing filled the air as the group caught their breath, and under that could be heard the wind caused by the swiftly moving grayness at their backs. Sarith spread her wings and flapped to the front of the group. No time for weariness now.

"Tai, what's wro—oh."

The desert . . . ended. That in itself wouldn't have been so bad, except it ended in a cliff. A very big cliff. Hundreds of feet below, a landscape of bright green fields dotted with darker green forests covered several miles. Another cliff sprang up across from them. It was a hidden valley, nestled in the chasm between two sheer mountain walls!

"Not again," groaned the blue dragon, peering over the edge as he had back when Kuwagamon had cornered him and his friends. "I hate cliffs. And there's no way down or around this one, either. We're stuck." Koromon sighed from his place on his back.

"We don't have time for stuck!" retorted Sarith, shooting over their heads as the others carefully approached the ledge in hopes of spying some way to continue. She hovered in the air, facing them. "Spread your wings! You can glide down! Just hold steady, you can do it!"

The Digi-Destined stared at one another uncertainly, not saying a word. One by one, their eyes went to Gabumon, Palmon and Gomamon. Too large to carry, and no wings.

The blue and white canine was the first to realize. "Go on without us," urged Gabumon, placing Tokomon on Matt's back. "We will be fine." Palmon and Gomamon were nodding.

"Forget it!" exploded Matt, startling his passenger. "We can't just leave you!"

"But that cloud-thing isn't after Digimon," Gomamon pointed out, pushing the gray dragon toward the edge. "Just go, before it gets here!"

"What are you saying!?" Joe yelped.

"I'm afraid of heights anyway," objected the pink dragon, remaining close beside her Digimon.

"But Mimi—"

"Uh . . . guys?" Sora began. She was looking behind them, her yellow eyes large, as she watched the cloud. It was very close.

But no one was listening. Matt, Joe and Mimi were still arguing with their Digimon. Tai was listening to Sarith's hurried explanations of gliding. T.K. had crept to the very edge of the steep rock, gazing down with bright white eyes. Maybe there was a trail or something, so the Digimon wouldn't have to stay behind! The little dragon leaned over, trying to see as far down as he could. But T.K. wasn't human anymore. His proportions were different, and he wasn't used to it yet. Before he realized what was happening, his wings flipped over his head, throwing him off balance and sending him plunging over the side of the precipice!

Izzy, who had also been gazing down into the valley but not really paying much attention to what was going on around him, made a hasty grab for the green tail as T.K.'s shocked cry sounded in the open air. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite fast enough.

_"T.K.!"_ shouted both Matt and Tokomon, leaping for the spot where he had just disappeared. The yellow dragon would have leapt after his little brother, but Sarith was already on top of the situation. Wings tight against her side, she plummeted after the tumbling green body with all the speed and accuracy of an arrow.

Using her expert skills, the mint green dragon was shooting down the mountainside right beside T.K. in moments. White eyes squeezed tight against the wind widened as he saw her. _"Sarith!"_ he yelled as loud as he could, and even he could tell she could barely hear him, only two feet away. _"Catch me!"_ His young voice cracked with terror.

"Can't!" she shouted back, keeping one eye on the fast-approaching ground. "Open your wings!" It was his only hope. If he couldn't manage on his own, there was nothing she could do. . . .

The green dragon's eyes closed again, this time in concentration. He was still falling uncontrollably, tumbling end over end. Sarith knew he had to pull himself out of it, and soon. He had to figure out how!

Suddenly there was a _snap_, and a pair of bright yellow wings opened sharply. T.K. continued to drop, albeit at a slower rate, until a gust of wind shot up and seized the dragon. Trapped under his wings, the air pushed him upward several feet, then held him as steady as a hammock in the breeze.

Sarith laughed out loud, the relief bubbling up inside her. It wasn't until the greenery below filled her vision that she realized she had been so preoccupied with watching T.K. that she had forgotten to open her own wings. She caught the tail end of the same wind that had saved him, skimming over the tops of the trees below (that had been too close for comfort!) and spiraling up toward him once again.

Once they were back at the same height, the female dragon took a moment to study the other. T.K. was succeeding, but just barely. The strain of holding his wings open and balanced was evident on his face, contorted with effort. Tipping slightly to one side, then the other, he was slowly losing altitude as well. Several times she caught her breath as he seemed about to crash into the cliff wall, but each time he managed to steer away at the last minute. Finally, T.K. noticed Sarith floating beside him. "Sarith, my wings hurt," he said plaintively.

"I can imagine," she returned, accepting the fact that there was no way he was going to be able to fly back up to the others. He was barely gliding as it was. "How much longer can you keep that up?"

He swallowed hard. "Not much longer."

"Right. Okay, try to hold still." Ignoring that little voice in her mind that told her this was a dangerous idea—she never paid much attention to that voice anyway—Sarith dipped down for a breath and then straight up, flipping half over and raising her front claws quickly. Before either of them could react, she plucked the smaller dragon right out of the air. He gasped as she twisted her wings to avoid getting tangled in his, both of them falling for a frightening moment before they straightened things out.

At last, they seemed all right. Only one of them knew what a risky maneuver that had been. If they hadn't been able to steady themselves that quickly . . . well, the ground was still very close below them. Sarith grinned shakily, holding a shivering T.K. with wings now folded to her chest. "You okay?"

"T-that was scary," he stuttered.

"Yeah. For you and me both. Now let's see if we can get back up to . . . oh no."

Worried about the way her voice tightened at the end, T.K. looked up and accidentally banged his head against Sarith's jaw. When he turned his head and looked around hers, what he saw made the darker green dragon's stomach sink to his feet.

The gray mist had reached the edge of the cliff, and was creeping down the mountain face toward them. Of their friends, there was no sign.

* * *

"What is she _doing?_" fumed Matt, restraining himself from pacing as he watched Sarith falling beside his brother. Heart in throat, he cursed himself for not being there to warn T.K., for not seeing him fall, for not being able to do anything now. _"Catch him,"_ he breathed, scarcely realizing he was speaking out loud.

"She can't." Matt cast a glance at the orange dragon beside him. "At that velocity such an impact would probably break every bone in both their bodies," Izzy explained softly.

Tokomon whimpered, peering over Matt's shoulder at the two green dots far below. "T.K. . . ."

"Uh, guys?" Sora repeated. There was a rumble, something akin to thunder, from the haze at their backs. It sounded . . . hungry.

Gabumon led the way as the Digimon ran toward the cloud, putting themselves between it and their human partners. Tokomon hopped down from between Matt's wings, but Tai held Koromon back before he could follow. "You're not strong enough, Koromon," the blue dragon told him, his yellow-orange eyes filled with guilt. "I can't let you get hurt." Before the In-Training Digimon could object, the battle had already begun.

"Blue Blaster!"

"Spiral Twister!"

"Super Shocker!"

"Poison Ivy!"

"Marching Fishes!"

"Bubble Blow!"

Bursts of blue, green and red streaked into the haze, where they parted the wispy grayness for a moment but had no lasting effect. The holes were all-too-quickly filled in by more seeping mist, until the cloud was whole again. Palmon's purple and green fingers tried to wrap around the nearest patch of fog, but slipped right through. A colorful school of fish appeared from nowhere, but when they dived into the cloud they vanished and did not reappear. Little pink bubbles splattered on the edge, doing no visible damage. Still the cloud crept forward.

"Again!" called out Gabumon, taking a deep breath. He would not give up. If they could just buy some time for their friends. . . .

With the sound of a thick branch snapping, a tentacle of the cloud shot out and wrapped around the dog-like Digimon. Five more followed, striking faster than the eye could see. In less time than it took to blink, the six Digimon were immobilized. Howling, squawking, crying out for their human partners, they were drawn inside the gray cloud and faded from view. Their cries silenced.

"Palmon!" screamed Mimi, horrified. The others shouted their Digimons' names wildly, praying they would be heard and responded to. Tai and Koromon stared in complete shock.

Izzy was the first to accept what had happened. "I propose we run, unless we want to end up in a similar situation as the Digimon!"

"Izzy's right: run!" Tai ordered. "Split up! Go around the cloud-thing! We'll meet again later! GO!"

Matt's blue eyes widened as he realized he had been watching the Digimon and not Sarith and T.K. Whipping around, he searched the valley below frantically. But the blue dragon gave him a hard shove to the right to get him moving. No time for that now! Matt stumbled, picked himself up, began to run. If he had been thinking he would have refused to move, no matter how close the mist came. But he wasn't thinking, just running. His brain rebelled at the possible loss of his brother and the Digimon, and now thought nothing at all. He barely noticed Izzy right behind him, and Sora following the orange dragon.

Tai, Koromon, Mimi and Joe went left. Two small packs of colorful dragons headed along the edge of the cliff in either direction. It was the only way to go. Forward would take them over the side, and backward was walking into the open maw of the grayness stalking them. There was no time to think about the loss of their friends, there was only survival.

The great cloud rolled onward, drifting to the edge of the cliff as the Digi-Destined scattered before it. Here it paused, as if considering.

_Snap!_ Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap! Six tendrils exploded from the sides of the haze. With the same lightning speed, they snatched up the fleeing dragons as if they were nothing more than toys strewn across the floor by a playing child. The dragons felt them tightening around their bodies. The branches of cloud were cold, and strong. Like bands of iron. But they didn't strangle. They wrapped around them firmly, carefully. Koromon was pinned to Tai's back. Unhurt but unable to struggle, the Digi-Destined were pulled into the heart of the cloud. Darkness closed around them, then unconsciousness.

The cloud plowed on again, relentless.

* * *

"Sarith?" quaked T.K., shivering against her chest. "What are we going to do?" He couldn't take his eyes off the grayness as it inched its way toward them.

She muttered something noncommittal, concentrating on keeping them aloft. The little dragon didn't weigh much, but her wings were beginning to feel the strain of holding them both against the pull of gravity. Finally she began a gliding descent in a tight circle, one eye on the ground and the other on their pursuer.

"Sarith?" the green dragon repeated anxiously.

She spared him a glance. "Don't worry, T.K. We'll think of something." What "something" might be, she had no idea, but they _would_ rescue the others, if it they had really been captured. Maybe they had escaped. Maybe Tok had too! . . . .But then what had happened to him? He would have returned, if he could have. He wouldn't have left them. No, he must have been caught by that cloud. And that meant the cloud was hunting dragons. And it probably meant that it had captured the others. Well, all the more reason to think up a rescue plan, and quickly. But first they had to lose their stalker.

The treetops of the valley reached up and welcomed them, and Sarith wasted no time finding a sturdy branch to land on. She deposited T.K. on the bow next to her and squinted up into the sky, judging time.

"I say we have about five to ten minutes before that thing gets here, T.K.," she told the other dragon unhappily, transferring her gaze to the small dragon.

His white eyes were large as they stared back at her. "What are we going to do?"

Wishing Tok were here, she closed her own eyes. Her brother was the one who always thought about things, she just liked having fun! Still, one look at T.K. and she knew she had to be the one in charge now. Because Tok _wasn't_ here, and that was that.

A cranky voice interrupted Sarith before she could begin to speak. "Well, whatever you're going to do, do it somewhere other than in my tree!" Both dragons yelped and whirled around, searching for the speaker.

A pair of big red eyes with tiny pupils was glaring down from the branch above them. T.K., the first to notice, tugged on Sarith's wing to alert her as he asked the eyes, "Who are you?"

"I'm the owner of this tree, and that means you're trespassing! Get out, shoo!" The leaves parted further and a round gray head with fluffy ears scowled at them.

T.K. instantly recognized it, and his eyes narrowed. "Pagumon," he growled, displaying sharp fangs without even realizing it. "You kidnapped Tokomon!"

The Pagumon froze. "H-how did you know that?" it sputtered, jumping to the next highest branch and peeking down uncertainly at them. "I-it wasn't my fault!"

Sarith blinked, confused. She didn't quite know what was going on. Wait, hadn't Tai said something about finding a Koromon village that had been taken over by Pagumon when they had first landed on Server? Well, whatever the case, she wanted to grab hold of the situation before it slipped out of her control. They didn't have much time left; the cloud was getting closer by the moment. An idea struck. "We," the mint-colored dragon announced, trying to sound powerful and important, "are the Digi-Destined!"

Both T.K. and the Pagumon stared at her. "The Digi-Destined are human children," the little In-Training Digimon informed her, as if it should have been obvious.

"I know that," Sarith hastily returned. "We are—I mean, were. He was the little one with the green hat, and I was the girl. Not the pink one, the other one. And since you last met us, we have become very, very powerful. So powerful we can alter our shapes! So be careful how you speak to us, pipsqueak." She leveled the Pagumon with her blue-green gaze.

It hesitated, suspicious. Sarith sneered and shot a ball of mint green flame toward the branch the Pagumon sat on. It hit a large leaf just to the left of the Digimon, and in an instant there was nothing but ash floating in the breeze. She smiled sweetly as the Pagumon's eyes seemed to pop right out of its head. It hurriedly decided to believe her, and said so.

"Good," she snorted. "Now, what are you doing here?"

"T-this is my hiding tree," the Pagumon explained quickly. "After we failed in capturing the Digi-Destined for Lord Etemon, he was very angry and chased all us Pagumon away. We parted ways, afraid he would track us down again when he was bored, and have been hiding ever since."

Sarith's ears leaped up straight. "Hiding tree? What's that?" she demanded.

The Digimon quivered. "I-it's, uh, a tree. That you . . . h-hide in."

"Great! We can—" The female dragon was cut off as the tree suddenly shook. Vines of gray mist forced themselves through the tree branches, waving about like questing fingers. T.K. gasped and hugged the branch with all four feet. Sarith unfolded her wings to balance herself, and the Pagumon wailed in fright.

"Please don't hurt me!" it shrieked, waving its fluffy ears around. Then, to both dragons' amazement, it jumped right _into_ the trunk of the tree! There was a brief green glow, and the Pagumon was gone.

"Follow it!" Sarith ordered, shouldering T.K. into the same spot the Digimon had just been. A tendril of cloud barely missed the little green dragon as he vanished as well. She leaped over the tentacle and followed.

The inside of the hiding tree was smooth and hollow, as if mechanically made. Thankfully the branch they had been sitting on hadn't been too far from the ground. As it was, T.K. landed in a sprawled heap with nothing injured save his dignity. Sarith glided to a place beside him, watching the Pagumon cower in the corner with its ears covering its eyes.

"We aren't going to hurt you," she told it impatiently. "We need a place to hide from that cloud. It's after us." She realized T.K. hadn't said anything since identifying the Pagumon and turned to give him a look. He was glaring at the Digimon, and she figured he simply wasn't very happy with having to spend time with someone who had mistreated his friend. Which was perfectly understandable.

The tree shook again. The unlikely trio flinched in unison.

"Can it come in?" worried T.K.

The Pagumon peaked through its ears. "This is a special hiding tree. Nothing's supposed to be able to enter if it has bad intent."

He squinted at the Digimon in mistrust. "Then why are you in here? And aren't you supposed to rhyme when you talk?"

It looked offended. "I'm not being bad! I'm just trying to survive without making Etemon angry. And I'm too scared to rhyme right now. Do _you_ feel like singing?"

The tree shook harder, and a sound like rumbling thunder floated to them from close by. "Uh . . . no." T.K. blinked.

Sarith swallowed a smile. "It seems," she began as pleasantly as she could, now that she saw her young friend and the Pagumon were going to live and let live. Well, at least they weren't going to leap at each other's throats. "It seems like we're going to be here a while, since we're safe for the time being."

"Hey!" objected the Pagumon, scowling again. "This is my tree! If you leave, that gray thing will follow you and leave me alone. What's keeping me from kicking you out?"

"Simple." Sarith grinned, showing all her sharp teeth. "There's two of us, and only one of you."

The Pagumon gulped and said nothing.

* * *

"Tai? Tai, can you hear me?" The voice seemed to be coming from a long way off. And it was vaguely familiar. Where had he heard it before? It wasn't Agumon, or Koromon even. Wasn't one of the Digi-Destined, or one of the other Digimon. . . .

"TAI!" A jolting impact under him sent him surging to his feet and into full consciousness. His head whipped back and forth as he stared around wildly, but only blackness met his sight. Then the past two days memories returned to him, and he was able to identify the speaker.

"Tok? I-I can't see!" His voice came out higher than he had expected it to.

"The same thing happened to me, when I was captured. Don't worry. It fades, given time." Tok's voice alternately rose and fell, and under that there was a steady creaking noise. Still a bit disoriented, Tai couldn't figure out what was going on.

"Talk to me, Tok. What's happening?"

"We're in cages. Little ones. You'll feel the walls if you stretch out your arms or wings."

"Who else is here?" he asked as he did what Tok suggested. Strong metal bars met his claws. They didn't give an inch.

Tok's voice had steadied, the creaking noises stopped. "Matt's on your left. Then Mimi, Joe and Sora. Our cages are hung in a row." A pause. "I haven't see Sarith. Or T.K. or Izzy."

"What about the Digimon?"

"Them either."

Tai squinted. The darkness was beginning to recede. Fuzzy shapes and dim colors slowly became clearer. Like a photograph developing, the image of an indigo-colored dragon sitting in what looked like a round metal birdcage came into focus. There was something like a collar around his neck, and Tai wondered what it was and how it got there. But he decided he wanted some other answers first, and by Tok's expression, so did he. Tai blinked rapidly. "Oh. Hi, Tok."

The real dragon chuckled weakly. "Hi," he returned, quickly steering the conversation back to more important matters. "I was knocked out when I was first captured, and I just woke up a moment ago. What happened to you guys?"

Tai turned to the left. Four other identical cages were suspended from the ceiling, holding his four friends. They were still out, and they also had collars. He felt his own neck and found a similar one on him. Watching Matt and the others for any sign of life, Tai related the flight from the cloud, the cliff, T.K. and Sarith's fall, and the attack that had claimed them and their Digimon. "I wonder where Koromon is," the blue dragon murmured.

"That cloud was sent by someone seeking dragons. They weren't interested in Digimon. Here, swing."

"What?" Tai turned back to gaze at the other.

"Swing. It makes the cage sway. If you build up enough speed, you can just reach Matt's cage. That's how I woke you up." Tok rocked back and forth to demonstrate, and his cage began to move.

Tai nodded. "Okay. I'll give it a shot." He splayed his our legs and threw his weight to one side, then the other, quickly building up speed. In moments a ringing clang filled the otherwise empty room, causing Tai to wince and Tok to anxiously check the only door in or out of the room. However, it remained closed, and they got their desired effect, because the noise started Matt and the rest of the Digi-Destined into wakefulness.

It took much longer to calm them down, explain everything, and wait for their sight to return than it took to wake them. When silence finally fell, Mimi voiced what Tai had been wondering since he could see again.

"But why are we wearing, like, dog collars? It totally clashes with the rest of me." She stretched her neck, trying to see the offending adornment.

"Come here, Tai," Tok said, leaning toward the other cage to get a better look.

The blue dragon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'll just walk right over there." There wasn't enough room in the cage to move over, but he did lean toward Tok and took the opportunity to look at the real dragon's collar just as he was studying his. It looked like a single band of brown leather, set with one metal stud under the chin. After a moment of intense gaze Tok sat back and sighed.

"That explains a lot, although I figured it was something like that once I found I couldn't. . . ." He trailed off, thinking.

"Well?" Tai demanded, as the others looked on curiously.

"It's called an Inhibitor. Remember when Mimi referred to our abilities as magical?" There were nods. "Well, following that analogy, these things block out magic. It keeps me from doing those things."

"You mean you can't just disappear and reappear outside the cage?" Sora asked, her tone saying that she sincerely hoped he could do just that.

"I'm afraid not. And I can't change shape to something small enough to slip between the bars either. I can't even breathe fire anymore, until I get this thing off." He sighed again, and was joined in this time by the others.

"Well, then let's get them off," growled Tai, grabbing his Inhibitor and giving a few sharp tugs. When he only succeeded in choking himself, he tried cutting through it with his sharp claws. Unfortunately, that didn't work either.

Tok watched him with a thoughtful look on his face. "Ah, that won't work," he told Tai after the boy leader had quite figured that out for himself. "It can't be removed by the wearer. But this does lead some pretty interesting observations."

Matt, who had been trying to figure out how whoever had caught them had gotten them into the cages—there were no doors or locks on any of them—glanced over. "Like what?"

"Like, whoever sent that cloud, whoever is interested in us, must know what dragons are capable of, since they guarded against it. And since you are all wearing them, it means our captor thinks you are real dragons as well. That's either a good thing, or a bad. I'm not sure. The only thing I am sure about is that we are now in the hands of someone very powerful, and very evil."

Silence fell as his words sunk in.

"At least T.K. and Sarith got away. They . . . they must be okay," the crimson dragon murmured. She cast a glance at Matt.

As a dragon, his expression was unreadable. "Yeah," he finally muttered.

Joe spoke up, his dark blue eyes worried and his voice bleak. "Okay, if they didn't get caught by the big gray thing, and if the Digimon aren't here because it was only after dragons, then where's Izzy?"

More silence.


	5. Meeting the Enemy

****

A Little Side Adventure

Episode Five: Meeting the Enemy

By Shelli-Jo Pelletier

(ussfantasy@hotmail.com)

***************

The dry, sandpaper sound preceded his arrival long before he made an actual appearance in the doorway of her chamber. So she had placed a slim finger in her book and was staring expectantly as he appeared in the doorframe, pausing with what little patience he had for her acknowledgement.

_Totally amazing,_ she thought, staring at him without words. _The creatures of this world are fabulous. If I didn't already have a mission, I'd set about recruiting them to Vladimir's agenda. Maybe when I'm done . . . if I make him proud, I'll suggest he come here himself, see the possibilities with his own eyes. . . ._

The so-called "digital monsters" of the Digiworld had marvelous potential in her eyes. With their special powers and fighting abilities, an army of them would be an impressive arsenal indeed. Jakamon here was a perfect example. As tall as a full-grown man, his outward appearance was of a cobra snake, complete with impressive cowl. But unlike a snake, he carried himself upright, the front half of his sinuous bulk off the ground. The sand-colored Digimon also sported heavily muscled, human arms, and he could pack a devastating punch into those knuckles. She could just imagine what a creature such as he would be able to do on Earth. Why, the fear he inspired alone could. . . .

The Digimon cleared his throat pointedly, his tiny yellow eyes narrowed with impatience, and she smiled. "Bring him in, Jakamon," she permitted, setting her book aside.

The large snake Digimon slithered into the room, hauling his burden in with him. As a real proof of his muscular strength, he was able to carry an iron cage—an occupied iron cage—almost half his size without even dragging it. At her gesture he deposited it on the floor in front of her chair. "The others are secured and their Inhibitors are in place. They were still unconscious when I left them. As you ordered, I have brought you one of them." Jakamon's voice always reminded her of old leaves, dry with a hissing lilt at the end.

"Goody!" She clapped her hands and crouched beside the cage. There was a young male dragon, orange and purple in color, unconscious within. Pre-adolescent, she guessed. No horns, either, which was good for her if he decided to fight back. Not that those teeth and claws wouldn't be enough. "He's cute," she giggled, poking a finger through the bars as if he was a puppy.

Jakamon rolled his eyes. "May I go now, Zophia?"

She waved a hand without looking up. "Yes, yes. Go ahead. I'll come get you if I need something." The Digimon snorted and she listened to the dragging sound of his tail against the stone floor as he left.

"And now," she murmured, sitting back on her heels, still gazing at her subject, "well, I win." The felling of triumph was hot and sweet inside of her. Vladimir had doubted she could do it. His patronizing voice had forced her to bite her tongue to keep from exploding. His displeased looks had mocked her. And all she put up with had only made her more determined than before to complete her mission and make him proud of her.

"I win, I win," she softly chanted, singsong. "I caught them all. Now they're mine." Wait, that couldn't be right. If she had caught them _all_ the Spell Cloud would have returned. That was one of the parameters of the spell. But then again, who cared? She had _seven_ dragons now! Sure, they weren't full-grown. That could be a good thing! Even one adult dragon could be too much to handle, but seven youths would not be hard to keep under control.

So, she was tired of waiting for the Spell Cloud's return. Seven young dragons were quite enough. Let those that remained free run home and warn their people of the evil on this world. By the time they formed any type of search party to come for their lost children, it would be too late. She would be long gone. A chuckle of victory crossed Zophia's full lips.

A nagging little voice—that sounded suspiciously like Vladimir when he was giving one of his lectures—reminded her to consider all possibilities before assuming anything. To never underestimate her enemies. What if. . . . Hmm, what if the dragons—or dragon—that hadn't been caught yet were parents of these young dragons? That could be bad. Parents sometimes put sensible thinking aside when their children were in danger. And if they found her little stronghold. . . .

"Ah, perhaps it would be a good idea to make sure the remaining dragon or dragons _couldn't_ find this place." Zophia turned away from the cage sitting in the center of the room and scooped up the book she had set aside, flipping through the pages with her perfectly manicured nails. Now where did it go? She was looking at it just a moment ago . . . ah! There it was! The Spell Cloud incantation. She sank back into her chair, giving her full attention to the words in the tome. Anyone familiar in the arts of magic and fairly competent could trace a spell back to its caster. And since she had no more need for it, the best thing to do would be to dissipate the Cloud as soon as possible. Of course, such things had to be done properly. A spell wasn't something you could turn on and off like a light switch. Zophia was soon deeply immersed in the ancient writings.

Izzy, unbeknownst to Zophia or Jakamon, was quite awake and carefully listening to everything going on around him. He had regained consciousness approximately ten minutes ago, and quickly deduced that he was being carried through a narrow hallway, if one considered the way the echoes of sound bounced back almost immediately. He had briefly wondered if he would have been able to make that deduction had he been human, or if a dragon's more accurate sense of hearing had made it possible. However, the individual carrying his enclosure was muttering to himself, and Izzy abandoned the train of thought to listen, keeping up his pretense of unconsciousness.

"Yes, Zophia. Whatever you wish, Zophia. As if I had nothing better to do, Zophia," the soft voice hissed sarcastically. "Vexing human! If I didn't need her for protection from Etemon. . . ." The mutterings trailed off into unintelligible grumbles, but Izzy was so shocked he doubted he would have been able to follow even if the speaker continued. _Human!?_

It took all the boy's willpower not to jump to his feet and question the being. Since it was doubtful a human could carry him this long without even being out of breath, the speaker was most likely a Digimon. An evil Digimon, according to Sarith and Tok. But what if they were mistaken? What if their pursuers weren't evil after all? Perhaps that large cloud was the only means of communication they had for long distances. Weighing the consequences in his mind, Izzy decided the wisest course of action would be to continue his deception. If these beings truly didn't mean them harm, seeming to remain unconscious wouldn't have any negative effects on their interaction. And if they were evil, it might gain him some valuable information.

That was when the orange dragon realized they were no longer moving, and first heard the female voice later identified as the human Zophia. Without being able to explain why, he immediately became wary of the female. Setting about to figure out exactly where that particular emotion came from, he could only conclude that she _sounded_ and _felt_ like someone he should be wary of. It was an altogether unsatisfactory conclusion, but at that moment the Digimon—Jakamon, she had called him, and he stored the information away for future use—set his confines on the ground, and Izzy could feel her crouch down before him. He froze, hoping she wouldn't notice.

Apparently she didn't. After Jakamon left she talked to herself for a while, then appeared to search for something in a book. He could hear the dry crinkle of the old pages as she turned them, and the sound of springs groaning as she sat in a chair close by.

By now, Izzy's curiosity was eating him alive. Surely she was sufficiently distracted to ignore any small movement from his direction. Taking the chance, he cautiously cracked open one reddish brown eye for the first time since awakening. From his position, the only thing he could make out were the metal bars of his confines, and beyond them a pair of fashionable boots that could only be described as expensive.

He slowly opened his eye the rest of the way, then followed it with the second. He found himself staring at a woman sitting in a richly upholstered armchair, dark red in color. The woman herself was clothed in the same color, wearing a long gown-like dress that made Mimi's look like something you would wear while doing farm work. It was embroidered with gold thread in bizarre patterns, matching the tumble of dark blonde waves of hair that cascaded down her shoulders. He couldn't see her face; it was buried in the large book she was reading. Which, logically, meant that she couldn't see him. A good thing, no doubt.

Suddenly she bolted to her feet, and Izzy froze once again. But she wasn't interested in him, didn't even look his way. "Ah, here it is!" she announced to the room, still buried in her text. She treaded past the iron cage, and he followed her with a slight turn of his head. For the first time, he realized the room was a bit . . . odd. Beside the chair stood a tall shaded floor lamp, providing the only illumination for the room. The floor was carpeted in pale rose. Other than the cage and something strange standing in the corner, which Zophia was heading towards, there was nothing else in the room. But what was strange was that the walls were made of large blocks of gray stone, as if they were in a room of a castle or something! Well, he had seen odder things in Digiworld.

Zophia had set the book, opened, on some kind of wooden dais, Izzy realized as he gazed through the bars of his prison. He only got a glimpse, because the woman stood in his way with her back to him, but he thought he had seen an oval mirror or window hanging on the wall right in front of her. As he stared in curiosity, the woman began to murmur words in a language he didn't recognize. Flashes of bright silver light illuminated her in silhouette for brief spurts, like a sporadic strobe light, coming from the mirror. She was _chanting_, her words following a certain pattern like a poem, and building in intensity. One last word spat out, harshly, and the silver light doused itself in an instant. Izzy was left with bits of stars blinking before his eyes, and a feeling of amazed fascination.

"What did you do?" he wondered out loud, completely forgetting where he was.

He remembered real quick. Especially when the woman whirled around and stared right at him. He also remembered that she was probably not a very nice person, and at the moment he resembled a small orange dragon with purple wings. In a cage. For some strange and curious reason he was finding it hard to breathe. He wished Tentomon were here with him.

Zophia recovered quickly. She had an oval face, framed by her golden hair. Light brown eyes continued to study him deeply. A smile lit her face.

It wasn't a nice smile.

"So, you're awake," she grinned, showing bright white teeth. With a flourish of her crimson dress, she strutted back across the room and sank into her chair, staring at him over steepled fingers. "Good."

Izzy felt the metal bars press against him as he took a step backward, watching her pass by the cage. The only solution he could see to this situation would be to gather as much information as possible, and use that information to devise a procedure to get him out of his present confines. However, Izzy was more of a thinker than a doer. He was much more comfortable giving advice and information than implementing plans. It took several silent moments for him to gather the nerve to ask, "Where are my friends?" He had meant to sound demanding. It didn't work too well.

The woman named Zophia looked amused. "They're hanging around here somewhere," she replied readily, chuckling.

Well, if she answered one question she would probably answer another. Feeling bolder, he crept forward an inch and continued to seek facts. "Why have you brought us here?"

"My, my, my! Curious little thing, aren't you?"

He glared at her. "Yes."

She flashed her nasty grin and leaned forward. "Perhaps you won't like the answers."

When he didn't respond she stood up, sweeping her arms wide in a grand gesture. This woman liked to show off for an audience. "You," she informed him importantly, "are here because I need answers. I will be the one asking the questions. You will answer them."

"And if I don't?" he challenged, unconsciously drawing himself up to his full height.

"If you don't," she finished, drawing closer so she could stare down at him from _her _full height, "I shall get my answers from one of the others. One of the little females perhaps?"

He felt his insides turn to ice, an interesting and unpleasant sensation. There was some sort of blockage in his throat that he couldn't talk around. He had to suffice with staring angrily at the woman.

She laughed. Actually _laughed_, and Izzy perceived for the first time just how helpless he really was. He followed her with his eyes as she resumed her position in the chair, meeting his gaze frankly. There wasn't a timid bone in this woman's body. "I want to know what you're doing on this world," she stated flatly.

_It's a game of wits,_ the orange dragon realized. _I'm attempting to decipher her just as she's attempting to decipher me. Every word has to be calculated precisely._ At the speed of thought he considered why she would want to know that, decided that he could only hazard that she was collecting information just as he was until he learned otherwise, and debated on how much to reveal, and how much of that would be truth. In a matter of seconds he had complied his answer. "It was an accident," he replied shortly, sticking with the truth for now. Not the dragon truth, but the Digi-Destined truth. He'd have to see if his gambit paid off.

She looked surprised; he had caught her off guard. Either that, or said something he shouldn't have.

Zophia frowned, then covered the expression with a bland half-smile. "If you didn't mean to come here, why didn't you simply leave?"

Izzy pounced upon the bit of knowledge, but was careful not to show it, as he recalled what Tok had told them about their mode of transportation. She didn't know he used to be human! She assumed he was an ordinary dragon! He had suspected that, but had phrased the answer that way to gauge her reaction and assure himself. But now he had to formulate another response before she became suspicious.

Well, she already knew he was curious. She would believe more of the same. "We were inquisitive about where we were, and desired to explore before returning . . . home." A momentary lapse. He didn't know what the dragons called their planet. But she would probably assume he just didn't want to reveal any secrets about his world, so it was an acceptable error.

Zophia wasn't done. "Then why didn't you leave when you discovered you were being hunted? You fled the Spell Cloud for several hours before it was able to capture you." Before Izzy could think up an excuse it was done for him. Her brown eyes lit up as she stumbled upon the answer herself—or so she thought. "It was those creatures, wasn't it? Those Digimon you were traveling with? You had made friends, and couldn't in good conscious leave them." She snickered at the thought of such selflessness.

Happy to allow her to provide answers for herself, he agreed. "Exactly." Then, daring. "Where are they?"

She waved aside the question with a motion of her hand, obviously thinking of other things. "The Spell Cloud was only assigned to capture dragons. If any other creatures got in its way it would incapacitated them and move on." Abruptly aware of how much she had let slip, she gave him a grudgingly impressed look. He tried to return it with a blank stare, but felt she wasn't buying it.

"What else are you hiding, dragon?" She wasn't one for beating around the bush, either.

"N-nothing." Izzy tried to sound assertive under her intense brown gaze. It wasn't one of his strong points.

_"Tell me,"_ she hissed, sounding more dangerous than she ever had before, truly evil. Izzy bumped into the back of the cage trying to get away from her. She continued to speak in that low, dangerous voice. _"You can't hurt me, dragon. But I can hurt you. _Tell_ me."_

He quivered, unable to find his own voice. _Get a hold of yourself!_ he ordered mentally, wishing he had some of Tok's abilities to throw at the woman. This of course led to a thought that if she really thought he was a dragon, why wasn't she alarmed that he was might obliterate her with fire or something? Of course. She would have taken precautions to assure he wouldn't be able to do such a thing . . . for the first time Izzy felt something stiff yet flexible encircling his neck, and put the two together. A fascinating prospect. How could such a thing prevent a dragon's powers?

Suddenly he wasn't thinking anything at all, as blinding pain enveloped his entire body. A scream tried to force it's why up his throat and he choked on it. Black stars and white ones danced before his eyes. The world was nothing but pain, and then . . . it was gone.

Izzy collapsed bonelessly onto the bottom of the cage, his own harsh panting filling his ears. It couldn't have lasted more then six or seven seconds, but he had no desire to _ever_ repeat the experience. It had been extremely unpleasant.

Forcing open his dazed eyes, he found Zophia leering at him. "Told you," she whispered darkly.

He blinked. Then the realization hit him. "Y-you did. . . ?" he croaked. "How?" Despite himself, he was intrigued. Perhaps she had been fooling Jakamon, and wasn't really human after all?

Preening under his confused gaze, the woman twirled a stand of golden hair around her little finger. "You didn't think an ordinary human would have the gal, the skill, the _ambition_ to travel to another world, seeking such a powerful creature as yourself, did you?"

He squinted. She looked ordinary to him, if a bit extravagant. Of course, appearances were often deceiving. "What are you, then?" he wanted to know.

Zophia struck a stately pose. "I," she announced with full-blown arrogance, "am a sorceress."

She was obviously expecting some kind of response. Unfortunately, Izzy didn't have a clue as to what that was. He hoped his confusion, which had not been alleviated with the revelation, would suffice.

Apparently it did. The blonde woman stood once again (didn't she ever stay in one place for more than five minutes?) and paced around the room. The orange dragon felt it would probably be a bad idea to show how nervous he was, so he didn't try to keep her in sight. Besides, he didn't feel quite like standing up just yet.

"I'll bet you thought there weren't any of us left, hmm dragon? Sorceress, wizard, magic-user. Seems more like something out of a story you'd tell a gullible child. Of course, so do dragons. And a world made from the Internet, for that matter. Very interesting." She didn't seem to be caring about what she said now. She was showing off. Again. Izzy stayed silent, listening and learning.

"Well I'll tell you, dragon. Your kind did a very good job disappearing from human view. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say. We, too, kept a low profile over the centuries. But there was always someone. Someone who practiced the arts and was willing to pass down their knowledge to the next generation when it was time. Lately we're becoming more accepted, and some braver souls have emerged from secrecy. Wicca, witchcraft, Satanism, the occult. I myself am being tutored under Vladimir Howard; a more powerful man I have yet to meet. This—" and she spread her arms wide to encompass the room and more, "—is my trial to prove that my apprenticeship is at an end, that I am ready to become an adept. If I complete my mission successfully, Vladimir will no longer be my teacher. He will be my equal." She stood before him, beaming a superior smile down on him.

Izzy wondered if the woman was insane. Then again, he had witnessed the so-called Spell Cloud himself. . . .

Zophia wiped her palms against each other briskly. "Well," she said again. "Not that it hasn't been just splendid chatting with you, dear, but I am a very impatient woman. It's time to get on with things."

He managed to gather his legs under him and sit up, feeling nervous all over again. "Get on with what?" he asked warily.

Her nasty grin was back. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Snickering quietly to herself, she brushed a bit of dust from her red dress and returned to the corner with the podium and oval of glass on the wall. She flipped through that strange book, still chuckling.

Izzy didn't like this at all. _Dragons must be incapable of sweating, because if they could I would be now. Quite profusely._ He watched her closely as she bent over, studying a page in her book. He heard her mutter a faint and triumphant, "Ah hah!"

When Zophia turned back to face the cage, Izzy noted with fascination that she was holding something small and round that gave off a strong yellow glow. It illuminated her cruelly grinning face as she swiftly crossed the room toward him. Her eyes glittered dangerously.

"Ready to die, dragon?"

"WHAT!?" shrieked Izzy, jumping backward and hitting the bars of the cage. She was standing right in front of him, the glowing sphere held in the palm of one hand. As her other hand came up the air started to crackle with electricity, some of the tiny static bolts reaching out as if hungry to envelop him. Izzy felt himself start to panic, and screamed out the first thing that came to mind. _"I don't want to die as a dragon!"_

The woman paused, staring down at the dragon quivering in the corner of the cage. Her free hand waved over the other, and the yellow light and electricity vanished. "What did you say?"

"I'm not a dragon!" he shouted, abandoning his pretense of deception, not even caring what he was saying. Icy fear had him in its thrall. He didn't want to die! Not here, not alone. Not without ever getting back home, to his parents and his friends.

An expression of suspicion painted Zophia's face. "What do you mean?" she demanded.

He was happy to oblige. "I-I'm human. My friends and I, we really did come here by accident. We've been trying to get home. We met the dragons yesterday. They-they transformed us when they sensed you tracking them. It was their belief that you would not be able to follow us if we were all d-dragons." The orange dragon fell silent, shivering, purple wings rustling. His tail curled tight around his feet as he stared up at her with his red-brown eyes.

Zophia had impassively stood as he blurted out his tale. As he finished, she tucked the small marble-thing into a pocket in her dress and crossed her slim arms in front of her chest. "I can't believe this," she snorted, shaking her head. "I can't _believe_ this!" Now she was pacing again. "I spent _six months_ thinking up the perfect proof that I was ready. And another five in preparation. You know what Vladimir did when I finally told him, finally showed him the book I had found with the perfect spell? He _laughed_ at me. Told me dragons didn't come to Earth anymore. Told me even if I could find one, I wouldn't be able to hold it long enough to perform the spell." The woman laughed bitterly. She was laughing at herself, Izzy realized.

"The fates must find this hilarious," she muttered. "Not only do I manage to scrounge up a spell that can track and capture dragons—you have no idea how rare that is—I also discover that the spell has led me to another whole world. Here digital monsters, dragons and _humans_ no less—" She paused in her ranting to point at him. "—run around like cute little cuddly animals, happily ever after and all that crap. And when I finally get some of them, it turns out they're not even the ones I'm looking for!" She threw her hands up above her head and sank into her chair. "Is that ironic or what?"

Izzy wisely didn't answer.

The woman's shoulders slumped. For a moment she brooded, then picked up her head to stare at him. "So, you're human, hmm?" He cautiously nodded. "The other six. Which ones are human, and which are the real dragons?"

"Why do you want to know?" He was getting a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Even as he asked, his mind grabbed onto the fact that she said _six_ others. That meant two of them hadn't been caught. Most likely Sarith and T.K. It was a small hope.

Zophia's fist crashed down on the arm of the chair, making him flinch. "Because I want to kill them, you idiot!" she exploded. "The spell is a masterwork of perfection! It sucks the very essence from a dragon, converting their extraordinary abilities into useable magical power, which can augment a magic-user's own!" Realizing she has perhaps said too much, the woman glared at her captive. "Of course, it _is_ a spell made for dragons. And your soul is still human, no matter what form you may be in. That can't be changed. Using a creature that is not a dragon in this spell would have disastrous side effects. At the very least, you and I and everything within five miles would probably become a large black crater." She withdrew the tiny sphere—which really did look like nothing more than a glass marble now—and tossed it from hand to hand, as if to defy its dangerousness. She looked thoughtful. "Now that I think of it, it's a very good thing that you spoke up when you did, dra . . . boy."

Izzy gulped and nodded.

The blonde woman stroked her chin with her index finger, deep in thought. Her light brown eyes were unfocused and far away. Izzy, glad she was no longer paying attention to him, tried not to move or make a sound. No use calling unsolicited attention to himself. But his mind worked at a furious pace, as always. If he was to take Zophia at her word—and really, she had no reason to lie to him—then Tok was in real danger. Danger for his life. This woman had no moral obligations, felt no remorse at causing pain or taking a life to further her own ideals. Like Devimon and Etemon. Evil.

The only thing that stood in her way, it seemed, was that she had to be sure she was performing the spell on a dragon. And he—and the others—were the only ones that had that knowledge. Somehow he had to keep it from her, get away, and find the others. Tok, if anyone, would know what to do after that.

A low chuckling brought him to his senses, and he blinked back to himself to find Zophia staring at him with a gleam in her eye. He gulped again. It was going to be quite difficult to implement his plan with her here.

As if reading his thoughts (now there was a terrifying prospect) she stood, still grinning. "Oooooooo. Yes. Yes, I think I will. Vladimir will be _so_ impressed!" Giggling like a schoolgirl, she pocketed the glass marble again and headed for the door with a lively step. "Don't you go anywhere now!" she called over her shoulder, as if he had a choice.

As soon as she was gone, Izzy began a cursory examination of his confines. He had no idea what she was talking about, but had a feeling he didn't want to be here when she returned to find out. For once, his curiosity was on hold.

* * *

"Sarith?"

The mint green dragon yawned and blinked open her eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry T.K. I think I fell asleep. What is it?" She looked around the hiding tree's smooth metal insides. The Pagumon was also asleep, its ears twitching in its dreams. T.K. stood where she had last seen him, standing beside her.

His eyes swiveled upward. "The tree's stopped shaking. I don't know when, 'cause I . . . I fell asleep too. I tried to stand guard, but I couldn't. I'm sorry." He looked at the ground, ashamed.

"It's okay!" she returned cheerfully. "It's been a long day. All that running. Yuck." She made a face and spread her wings. "Give me a flight over a long run any day."

He grinned at her, spirits restored. "Not me! Flying hurts. My wings are still sore."

"That's because most dragons don't start flying by falling off a cliff."

The little dragon giggled. "We seem to do that an awful lot, ya know," he told her. "There was that time when Kuwagamon attacked us, then when Joe tried to climb away from Shellmon, and Biyomon when she fought Meramon. When Sora and Tai had to go rescue Joe from Unimon there were lots of cliffs to fall off of, because they were on Infinity Mountain, and Tai once said he and Matt fell off a cliff because a Mojyamon attacked them!"

Sarith blinked. "I think you guys need to stay away from cliffs from now on."

T.K. nodded.

"But you're right. I think that gray cloud thing must be gone. Huh. Wonder why it gave up?"

"Maybe it was bored because it couldn't get in," suggested the boy.

"Maybe it finally realized how annoying the people it was trying to get were!" snapped the cranky Pagumon. "And how rude they are to talk so loudly when someone is trying to sleep!"

"Sorry," the two dragons apologized automatically.

"Whatever! If the thing is gone, that means you can be gone too! Go! Shoo!" The little gray Digimon waved its fluffy ears at them, then hopped right into the wall. As before, the metal that appeared to be solid parted with a green glow and the Pagumon went through.

Sarith and T.K. looked at each other and shrugged, then followed. Outside they discovered it was just about noon, judging by the position of the sun. The Pagumon was already up a tree, picking some strange purple fruit and dropping them to the ground. At the sight of food both dragons realized they hadn't eaten _at all_ today. Without hesitation they leapt at the fallen fruit.

"Hey! HEY! Those are mine!" screeched the In-Training Digimon, hopping up and down in fury on the branch it sat on. "You can't eat them!"

Sarith paused briefly to give him a disgusted look. "There's plenty to go around, and we haven't eaten since yesterday."

"But those are MINE!"

"Tough." Snorting a warning blast of fire at it, she scooped up one of the fruit and popped it into her mouth. It was sweet and juicy, like a ripe peach but without the pit, and she swallowed it greedily and reached for another. T.K. politely handed her one as he licked his lips of fruit juice. She thanked him graciously. Soon they had finished off the ones the Pagumon had dropped. It glared down, daring them to demand more, but the meal had satisfied them and the dragons turned to their next task: getting back up the cliff.

"Do we _have_ to go back up there?" T.K. asked plaintively, eyeing the sheer rock wall distastefully.

"That's where the others were last," the true dragon reminded him, flexing her wings in preparation for a workout. "If any of them escaped, they would come back here to look for us. Even if they didn't, we might find some clues about where they went." She turned to look her small friend in the eye. "I'd go by myself, but I don't want to leave you down here. Besides, I could use another pair of eyes. If I carry you like last time and fly up, do you think you can make it?"

The green dragon stood up straight. "Sure, Sarith! I won't let you down!" There was a scornful snort from the tree, but the Pagumon had climbed higher to get its own meal and disappeared from view.

"All right. Um . . . come on." She headed for the nearest tree. He followed uncertainly, giving her a questionable glance as she stopped beside the thick trunk and turned to him. "Up you go," she explained. "It'll be easier for me if you get on a high branch. Less work for my wings." When he still looked hesitant she added encouragingly, "Just use your claws. They'll hold you right in. See?" Sarith jumped up and dug in with all four feet, hanging vertically.

T.K. gamely sunk his claws into the soft bark of the tree, pretending it was the cargo net on the playground as he started to climb. Sarith let go of the trunk to get out of his way, flapping up to a low branch of the tree to wait for him. By the time he made it up to her he was breathing heavy, but resolutely began climbing from branch to branch, heading higher. Sarith chuckled to herself. The kid had guts!

"Is this high enough, Sarith?" T.K. called down to her. The leaves hid him from sight, but judging by his voice he was near the top of the tree.

"That's fine!" she shouted up to him, launching herself from the low branch. This was, unfortunately, _not_ going to be fun. T.K. was at least half her size. Carrying him while gliding to the ground was one thing. Carrying him while flying up a cliff—a very tall cliff—was another entirely.

But she wasn't going to tell him that.

As she cleared the top of the trees she spotted the small green dragon waiting for her. The Pagumon sat on the same branch, and as she neared she could hear it ranting.

"—about time you two got out of my fur! Come here and use my hiding tree and don't even ask permission and take my food and never even said thank you once! And—hey! I'm not done yelling at you yet!"

T.K. gave Sarith a grateful look as she swooped in and scooped him off the branch, using the momentum to begin her climb. "Thanks for everything!" the smaller dragon called down, waving to the Pagumon. The Digimon looked shocked, then glared, then vanished into the safety of the tree's thick foliage.

Higher and higher they climbed. Sarith soon forgot about the annoying yet helpful Digimon. She wasn't paying much attention to anything else, either. Her concentration was focused on keeping her wings flapping, on gaining altitude. It was quickly becoming a difficulty.

As her wings began to burn with exertion, the female dragon was ready to think about revising her strategy. But they were almost halfway up, and Sarith wasn't a quitter. She wasn't going to give up without a fight.

They continued to rise.

What would Brell say about a situation like this? _He'd say . . . use the environment to my advantage,_ she thought decisively. Okay, so . . . what? It _would_ be extremely helpful if she could catch a bit of wind, but the only breezes that were traveling in the right direction were too small to matter. She tested the air currents anyway, searching for the strongest of the small drafts heading upward and angling her wings to catch it. It helped. A little.

Good, what now? Well, she could be prepared to fly closer to the cliff side. If something happened and she lost control or faltered for a moment, at least she would be able to deposit T.K. on the vertical wall before she fell. Claws wouldn't sink into stone as easily as wood, but he should be able to hold on long enough for her to regain her composure.

By now Sarith's breath was coming in harsh gasps, and her thoughts centered on just keeping her wings beating. T.K., perhaps sensing how difficult it was for his friend, kept still and silent in her arms. Painfully she forced one wing beat after another. Her throat felt like it was on fire. Had to keep going. Wasn't much farther. Couldn't stop. For T.K. For Tok. For her friends. Had to keep trying. Had to keep. . . .

Ack! Ack, bright light! The shadow they had been flying in, caused by the cliff, was suddenly gone, blinding her with the brilliance of the noon sunlight. Realizing what this meant, Sarith lurched forward. The firm ground met her back feet. She managed to stay upright long enough to release T.K. and let him scramble out of the way, then collapsed where she stood, panting.

For a moment there was only her own ragged breathing in her ears. As it returned to normal, she could hear . . . crying? The dragon forced open one blue-green eye. At first her vision was nothing but a blur of many colors. They quickly coalesced into seven forms, huddled together not far from the ledge. A gasp came from beside her, where T.K. stood.

The Digimon were sobbing as if their hearts were broken, tears streaming down their many-colored faces. They leaned against each other for support, and their voices carried to the two dragons on the edge of the sheer rock wall.

"W-we couldn't protect them!" wailed Gomamon, his head buried under Palmon's leafy arm. Her teardrops ran down her face and fell on his bright red shock of hair.

"And now they're gone." Tears rolled off Biyomon's break. Tentomon sniffed and patted her wing. His green eyes swam.

"We could do nothing," Gabumon murmured, one arm curled around a sobbing Tokomon. "Our best efforts failed." His voice was heavy with shame.

"We should have tried to digi-volve, or something. . . ." whispered Koromon.

"Are they . . . gone forever?" sniffed Tokomon, his voice wavering. No one answered him.

T.K. couldn't stand it any longer. "Tokomon!" he screamed, running toward the group.

Seven heads whipped around. "T.K.!" The little rabbit Digimon scrambled toward his partner frantically, wild hope in his eyes. The others watched, speechless, as the two leapt and caught each other, laughing and crying at the same time, rolling around on the ground. "You're alive! You're alive!" Tokomon cried out again and again.

Sarith really didn't feel like getting up, but now the other Digimon were running over, their faces transformed from misery to cheer. She gathered her legs under her, pushed herself to her feet with a groan. But no matter how hard she tried, her wings refused to fold along her back, like they usually did. Finally she sighed and let them hang limp at her sides.

The Digimon clustered around her, babbling out in a multitude of voices. Asking what had happened, how had they gotten back, had they seen the others. Sarith shook her head sadly at that, and they quieted.

"What happened to you?" T.K. asked, joining the group with Tokomon bouncing along beside him.

Gabumon explained, his red eyes sorrowful. "We were attacked by that cloud, and tried to fight it off to save the Digi-Destined. We failed. When we awoke, we were here and they were gone." The other Digimon all nodded unhappily.

Sniffling, the little green dragon turned to Sarith. "Where did they go?"

"I don't know, T.K.," she murmured. "And . . . and I'm not sure how to find out." She sighed and sat down. Her friends did likewise, seeing that they weren't going anywhere.

"Are you okay?" worried Biyomon, gently touching one of her wings. When Sarith winced she withdrew hurriedly.

"Fine. Just sore," she assured the pink parrot.

"Yeah Sarith, you were really great!" enthused T.K., trying to look on the bright side of their situation. "I wouldn't be able to do that in a million years!"

She chuckled. "Thanks. I wish Tok had been there to see. . . ." Her face fell. So did T.K.'s. He huddled closer to the older dragon as she spoke again. "I . . . just don't know what to do anymore. I tried to be like Tok, to look out for my friends. I tried to be the leader. But I'm no good at that stuff. I can't think of anything! I want my brother." This last part came out as a whimper. A single tear rolled down her long face.

"Me too," sniffed the little dragon. He was trying very hard not to cry.

"I want Mimi!" cried Palmon.

"And Joe," Gomamon added.

"And Tai."

"And Izzy."

"And Sora."

Tokomon just nuzzled T.K. silently, his round eyes shining.

Sarith wondered if this was the first time that the humans and their Digimon partners had ever been apart. It would certainly explain their reactions; the digital monsters could barely function without their Digi-Destined. They were suffering deeply from the separation.

_I want to help them_, she thought sadly. _It's out fault their friends are gone. The evil didn't want them at all, it wanted us. There must be _something_ I can do._ No matter how hard she thought, she couldn't come up with a single plan to find where the others had gone. She couldn't even sense the great evil anymore, and she didn't know how to put herself into a trance like Tok did. She was too tired to fly up into the sky and do a search by air. Any flying at all would be a bad idea for the next day or so. She could ask Biyomon or Tentomon to, but she didn't want them to split up any more than they already were. Finally she had to admit it; she was hopeless. If only Tok were here, or Mom or Dad or Brell—

"Oh my . . . that's it!"

The Digimon and T.K., who had been sitting quietly, jumped at her unexpected voice. They turned questionable faces to her.

"I have an idea!" the female dragon exclaimed, beginning to look excited. "I can't imagine why neither of us thought of this before! Though I'm sure we're going to get in trouble for this. I'll be grounded for months at the least, and for dragons that's a literal punishment. Tok always thinks he can handle everything by himself, too. But I don't care! I'm scared, and I don't know where else to turn to!" Her expression was one of dread and determination at the same time.

Koromon perked his long ears in her direction. "Where are you going to go?"

She set her jaw. "I'm going to go home and get my parents."

T.K.'s eyes got very large. "You're . . . leaving us?" he squeaked.

"No, no, no!" she assured him with a fond gaze. "I'm going to get my parents and bring them here. They'll be able to fix everything. They'll find the bad guys, and get all our friends back! Even if you are humans, and even if Tok did turn you into dragons."

The smaller dragon was silent for a moment. Then, "Are they going to be mad?"

"Probably," she sighed. "But at me, not you. Don't worry." She managed a weak smile. "Will you guys be okay until I get back?"

The Digimon nodded. Their vacant, lost expressions were gone. Now they had a purpose. "We will protect T.K. until your return," Gabumon announced.

"Great! Wish me luck!" She stood up and took several steps away from the group.

"Good luck!" T.K. called after her. As he watched, she was suddenly gone. There was no smoke, no fading away, no flashes of light. She had just disappeared as if she had never been at all.

They settled down to wait.

* * *

Izzy had fallen into a sort of half-doze, having found no way to break out of his confinement. He had struggled against it, but the monotony had gotten to him. If only he had his laptop! His fingers itched to type on the familiar keys. It was quite frustrating.

When the door to the stone room flew open so hard it crashed against the wall he leapt to his four feet, heart pounding hard against his ribs. Still a bit muddled, he watched Zophia stalk into the room, followed closely behind by Jakamon and a third individual whom he only saw for a second before Zophia blocked his view.

The woman wasted no time. Without hesitation, she stood before his cage and snapped her fingers three times. To Izzy's complete and total amazement, he found the iron bars surrounding him were gone, and he was standing on the carpet. The cage had simply vanished! Pushing away the sudden urge to hang around and discover just how she had done it, he leaped forward to make a getaway.

Unfortunately, Jakamon had been ready. The Digimon slithered forward and grabbed him, pinning his wings to his sides as he wrapped muscular arms around him and lifted him clear off the ground. The inhumanly powerful arms immobilized the orange dragon so that he could hardly move.

Zophia waited until his struggles ceased. They were looking each other in the eye now, and the woman had a wicked smile on her face. She reached a slender hand toward him and he tried to jerk away, but Jakamon's hold suddenly increased in pressure and he found himself unable to breathe. Feeling helpless, Izzy stilled and Jakamon marginally relaxed his grip, allowing the dragon's lungs to fill with air. As he panted for breath he felt Zophia lay her fingers on his forehead. Half fascinated, half sick with dread, he listened as she began chanting in the same tongue as before. The words slid into and over his brain like water, and he couldn't for his life have repeated them.

Izzy was beginning to feel strange. His vision was fading in and out of focus, and Zophia's voice alternately boomed in his ears and shrank to a whisper. Feeling queasy, he realized with vague surprise that the pressure of Jakamon's arms around him was gone. Was he free? He tried to make his legs work but couldn't feel them either.

Soon—not soon enough—the spell passed. Izzy found himself sitting on the carpeted floor, dazed and staring stupidly at his hands. He blinked. Hands. Covered with their familiar yellow gloves. Not claws. _Hands._ He was . . . human again!

The appendages he was marveling over were suddenly wrenched behind him as Jakamon grabbed them and hauled the boy to his feet. Zophia was still standing in front of him, hands now on her hips. "See, Vladimir? I told you he was human."

"Impressive." The voice was a soft baritone, male. Izzy lifted his head to watch a man in a dark brown suit step up beside Zophia, in his late thirties maybe. He wasn't very tall, about the same height as the blonde woman, with smooth brown hair framing his angular face and brown eyes a darker shade than hers. These studied Izzy piercingly, and it was his opinion that if this was indeed Zophia's teacher, they were all in trouble. One of these magic-using people was quite bad enough! And he really didn't like the way Vladimir was looking at him. "You've done well, Zophia."

She basked in her mentor's praise. "As I told you, there's six more where he came from," she told him eagerly.

He didn't respond. Unlike Zophia, he seemed to be a man of little words. But those hard brown eyes refused to leave Izzy's face, and it was extremely unsettling. Jakamon held him so tightly his hands were beginning to tingle from lack of circulation, keeping him from going anywhere.

After a moment of silence, Vladimir spoke. "How many of your friends are true dragons, boy?" His voice was even, calm.

Izzy strove to make his the same. "I can't tell you that."

"Very well." Without any other warning the man's hand came up and lightly touched the Digi-Destined's temple. Izzy felt as if he had been struck. Blackness flashed before his eyes and his head throbbed. He was abruptly out of Jakamon's grip and thrown against the wall, his precious laptop digging into his back. Vladimir pinned him there with an arm across his chest, his other hand still at his temple.

The boy's headache increased by the minute. It felt like someone was digging into his head with an ice pick, trying to expose his brain. He struggled to push the larger man away, press his hands to his head, _something_ to stop the pain, but his limbs weren't responding.

Then he felt a strange sort of push against his brain. Not physical, he comprehended with growing horror, but mental. Vladimir's dark eyes loomed large in his vision, all he could see. He was drowning in them. Sinking farther and farther below their surface. And then something broke—

_He's in my head!_ Terror engulfed Izzy with an icy hand. It took away all thought, all reason. The soft chuckle that wormed into his thoughts, that was definitely _not_ his own, did nothing to alleviate his fear.

_Indeed. Now behave and I won't have to hurt you any more._ The powerful force of the man ruthlessly took control of his body and mind. As desperately as he wanted to fight back, to get him out of his head, he didn't know how. He'd never been in a situation like this before! He was unable to do anything as Vladimir accessed his memories. Like a movie in fast forward he watched as his whole life played before his mental eye, knowing that the sorcerer was watching too, and memorizing all he saw.

In an instant it was over. Both the presence in his mind and the hand on his temple withdrew, and the arm followed a moment later. Izzy collapsed on the ground, wrapped his arms around himself, and trembled violently. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Geesh, Vladimir." The voice was Zophia's. "I didn't think you were going to kill him."

"He was unprepared for the shock." Vladimir's footsteps moved away. "He'll recover." The door opened.

"Where do you think you're going?" Zophia didn't give Vladimir the respect of a teacher when she spoke to him.

If he minded, he didn't indicate it. "You called me to show off your progress," he stated. "I want a detailed account on what you've accomplished so far. And I don't want either of them here."

A pause. She must have nodded. "Jakamon, put him in with the others," she commanded. "Don't come unless I call for you."

The Digimon snorted. He picked up the limp boy effortlessly and glided toward the door. Vladimir shut it firmly as he passed through.

More ticked off than ever, Jakamon wasted no time making his way to the room where the other captives were kept, throwing in the human, and slamming the door closed. He was sick of being ordered around like a slave for a simple lapse of judgement!

"Give one honest opinion of an Ultimate's singing abilities to his face and you're marked for life," grumbled the serpent Digimon. "Me and my big mouth." A forked tongue flicked out briefly as he checked to make sure the door was locked, then slithered down the hall, shaking his scaly head.


	6. Help and Escape

****

A Little Side Adventure

Episode Six: Help and Escape

By Shelli-Jo Pelletier

(ussfantasy@hotmail.com)

***************

T.K. yawned and rolled over on his back, his wings stretched out across the sand. He giggled. "If we had snow we could make snow angels."

"Snow angels?" asked Tokomon, blinking his bright black eyes. "What're those?"

"Oh, lotsa fun!" the little dragon enthused, rolling back over onto his stomach to look at his Digimon. "But we can't play them here." T.K. sighed. He was tired of waiting near the ledge. But Gabumon said that if they weren't there when Sarith got back then she would worry, and that made sense. He just wished she would hurry up!

Koromon, perched on the edge of the cliff where he was keeping a careful lookout, diverted T.K.'s attention. "Here they come!" the little pink head called out loud.

Everyone else scrambled to join the In-Training Digimon. Briefly the dragon wondered if Koromon was talking about Sarith and her parents, but more likely it was Biyomon and Tentomon returning. Why would Sarith be down in the valley?

He was right. It was the parrot and insect Digimon, rising up out of the greenery below. They carried a small pile of that purple fruit on a wide leaf between them. Panting, the two flyers set the leaf on the ground next to a slightly bigger pile of the same fruit. It had taken a couple of trips, but now there was enough for the rest of the Digimon.

Biyomon and Tentomon rested their tired wings—they weren't as exhausted as Sarith had been because the wind had picked up not too long ago and they had shared the weight between them, but they were still pretty tired—as the other Digimon dug in. The duo had eaten on the valley floor so they wouldn't have to carry their own meals up the long climb, and T.K. was still full from earlier. So together they sat and waited for the others to finish.

"Mmmmm!" Gomamon relished, flipping another of the juicy fruit into his mouth. "These are yummy!"

"Sure are!" Palmon agreed.

"Now if only . . . _munch munch_ . . . Sarith would get back . . . _munch munch_ . . . so we could rescue our friends." Koromon swallowed and licked his lips.

Biyomon fluffed her wings with a satisfied smile on her beak. "Now that we've got some good food in us we'll be able to digi-volve if there's trouble," she told the little green dragon. "I mean, as soon as we find Sora and the others." Her cheerful face fell for a moment and she sighed.

T.K. didn't want her to be sad, so he gave her a hug (kind of awkward in his dragon shape) before turning to his Digimon. "Even you, Tokomon?" he asked.

"Yup!" the little In-Training assured just as he inhaled a whole purple fruit, almost as big as he was. His sharp teeth made short work of it, splattering dark red juice everywhere.

T.K. grinned and then decided to watch his tail twitch for a while. It was really interesting. He'd never had a tail before! He wasn't even telling it to; it was twitching all on its own! This of course led to an examination of his wings, which were equally neat. He could make them flap, but it stirred up the dust and Tentomon asked him to stop. They were still a little sore from when he fell off the cliff anyway. Still, it was pretty cool to be a dragon!

"T.K., I asked you to stop making the sand fly everywhere!" Tentomon complained again, trying to block his face with his sickle-like hands.

"It's not me!" T.K. flattened his ears along his head and squinted against the particles whirling around. Tokomon bounded over and crouched by his side, ears quivering alertly. The other feasting Digimon quickly quit their lunch. They looked around for trouble. However, no one thought to look straight up.

Until the gigantic black shadow fell over the entire party.

"Digimon stand ready!" growled Gabumon, taking a protective stance around the green dragon. The other Digimon followed suit, all eyes on the sky. They might not have been able to digi-volve, but they would defend their charge with all their Rookie and In-Training strength.

"No need for such precautions." The words were soft, yet immense. No one had any trouble understanding. And under them was a strong repetitive noise, the swooshing of a great amount of air being moved. As the shadow passed from overheard, the sun shone down again and the swirling sand increased in intensity. Both these factors momentarily blinded them all. There was a dull thump that was felt more than heard, and as the fine particles settled to the ground, silence fell. The voice and noise had stopped. Their eyes cleared.

Before the speechless group of eight towered a tall, regal being. He was fully the size of Birdramon. Completely pale white in color, almost translucent, his eyes were deep and green and sparkled from beneath heavy ridges. But unlike Sarith and Tok, his huge pupils were rounded, not slits. He didn't have any horns, but he did have a small row of spines running up his snout and between his ears.

He was a _big_ dragon. There was silence.

"Pssst!" whispered Tokomon urgently, nudging his partner and breaking the spell. With effort T.K. wrenched his gaze from the giant and looked down at the Digimon. Tokomon was pointing toward one of the mammoth dragon's front feet. His once-human partner looked.

A mint green dragon with a big grin on her face greeted his sight. She jumped off the foot she had been sitting on—passing claws like huge sickles—and trotted up to them.

"I'm back!" the female dragon announced.

"Sarith!" he cried joyfully, glad to see her wings folded back at her sides. He had been worried that she had broken them or something.

There was a deep rumbling noise from the white dragon. Sarith's ears flattened as she skidding to a stop, her grin turning sheepish. "Ah, I decided against getting my parents," she told T.K. and the Digimon. "This is Brell. He's my teacher."

T.K. gulped, because Brell was staring at him with those big green eyes. The dragon wasn't frowning, but he wasn't smiling either. He just stared.

Sarith craned her head back to look up at him. "Brell? What is it?"

The big dragon rumbled again. T.K. realized that it wasn't an angry sound, but a sigh. "It is true. I had trouble believing that your brother could accomplish such a feat, but it truly is human." His great head slowly shook from side to side.

T.K. wondered how he could tell. He also felt a bit of resentment for being called an "it."

"I told ya, didn't I?" retorted Sarith, starting forward again. At this Brell gave a snort of warning, sending a brief flash of white-hot flame from his nostrils that dissipated in the air. The little mint green dragon whirled, staring up at her mentor with eyes narrowed. Then she deliberately turned her back on him and advanced between Gabumon and Gomamon (the Digimon hadn't dropped their protective circle around T.K. and Tokomon). Only when she stood beside the smaller green dragon did she turn around to face Brell.

"I see," murmured the large white dragon. Sarith nodded once. "Very well."

T.K., afraid Brell would be angry with him, edged closer to Sarith. She favored him with a smile of reassurance as the giant dragon slowly settled to the ground, stretching his long bulk out on the desert sand. His head came to rest a few yards from the small bunch of dragons and Digimon, turned sideways so one of his green eyes could scrutinize them. His pointed ears swiveled toward them. "Describe this thing that chased you again, Sarith."

She launched into the story, starting at the point where they had first seen it, leaving the oasis. She told of how they trekked through the desert, found the hidden valley, and how they had been spared but the others obviously taken. Brell listened to it in silence, and didn't even seem to mind T.K. or the Digimon adding their own parts to the story. When they were done the aged teacher made a contemplative sound.

"We deal with someone who knows what he is doing," he told them solemnly. His eye rolled skyward, as if he was searching the clouds for answers. Finally he slowly stood and looked down at them again. "Human, come forward," ordered Brell bluntly. The dragon's countenance betrayed nothing.

T.K. didn't move. "It's okay," whispered Sarith, nudging his shoulder with her snout. "He's a good teacher. He won't hurt you, T.K. I promise." She made sure she spoke loud enough for the Digimon to hear her too, then dropped her voice to whisper in his ear, "He's just testing you."

Still the little dragon hesitated. He was afraid. Brell was very big, and he didn't seem to like him very much. He could squish him with one foot! But T.K. knew if Matt were here, _he_ would go forward. Matt wasn't afraid of _anything_. Trying to keep an image of his big brother in mind, T.K. took one shaking step toward the giant dragon. Then another. A third step took him past Gabumon, who spared him an encouraging glance before returning his eyes to Brell. Tokomon, who had been walking beside him, stopped as he passed the dog-like Digimon. A couple more steps and he stood all alone, his friends behind him and the giant dragon gazing down at him.

Brell lifted one huge forefoot into the air, claws gleaming in the sunlight. T.K.'s insides wiggled with fear. He _was_ going to step on him! Sarith was wrong! Too terrified to run away, the little dragon squeezed his eyes shut and waited to be squished.

But it never happened. T.K. chanced a peek just in time to see a milky white light collect around the raised claw, mixed with pale pastel colors. The opalescent glow floated toward T.K. like slow-moving fog, settling around him. Now he watched with both eyes open, and his fear was replaced with wonder. The light made his tummy feel funny, like he was on a roller coaster right before the big drop. And his head felt like when he stayed out in the sun too long.

The fog faded away, and T.K. could see Brell again. He turned around to look for Tokomon and the others, but the movement felt weird and he had to sit down in the sand. That's when he heard Tokomon calling his name and, looking up, saw him running toward him. It wasn't until the little In-Training Digimon leapt into his lap that he realized he was a little boy again, instead of a little dragon.

"I'm back to normal!" T.K. cried, hugging his Digimon. The others crowded around him, exclaiming in shock and saying how great it was to have him back. Sarith grinned and tapped him lightly on his helmet with her tail. Brell chucked deep in his throat at the scene below him.

Hearing the sound, T.K. scrambled to his feet, still holding Tokomon. He turned back to the white dragon and bowed his head, saying earnestly, "Thank you Mr. Brell, sir! Thanks a lot!"

Brell shrugged his shoulders, wings fluttering in the movement. "My student made a mistake, however good his intentions. It is my responsibility to right his errors." But the stern words and tone of voice were softened by a faint smile that lit his snout. "Now, we must hurry. I fear your friends and Tok are in great danger from this evil he sensed hunting you."

T.K.'s eyes shone. "We're going to go save my brother?"

The great white head nodded, and there were cheers from the small party below. Soon Sarith, T.K. and Tokomon were nestled in one of Brell's large forefeet, and the remaining six Digimon in the other. Broad white wings—wider than a house when fully expanded—spread and beat at the dry desert air. Sand blew up all around, but they were safe in Brell's cupped claws. Then they were rising into the air and spiraling up above the endless wasteland, the lush valley that had sheltered Sarith and T.K. shrinking to a tiny green crack below them in moments.

* * *

Tok and the Digi-Destined-turned-dragons jumped to their feet in alarm as the only door to the room unexpectedly opened. Briefly a tan-colored silhouette was seen in the doorway, then something was thrown into the room and the door slammed shut again. The Digi-Destined had gotten so used to seeing each other as dragons that it took them several long moments before they recognized just what, or more specifically who, had been tossed in.

"Izzy!" shrieked Mimi.

The boy on the floor flinched slightly but didn't otherwise respond. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was shivering, his legs drawn up to his chest.

"Izzy, are you okay?" Sora anxiously asked.

Matt chimed in. "What happened, man? What did they do to you?" Still no response. It was as if he wasn't even hearing them.

"Is anyone other than me wondering why he's no longer a dragon?" Joe asked. No one answered.

"He's in shock," Tok murmured into the silence.

"Well un-shock him!" snapped Tai, thrashing about in his cage. "This is our chance to get out of here! Izzy, snap out of it!"

The human's eyes obediently snapped open, but they had a blank, glassy look to them that nobody liked. "Izzy?" ventured Sora softly.

"Yeah. . . ." His voice was distant and hollow. Slowly, he sat up and leaned against the stone wall, staring off into nothing.

"What happened?"

"Don't wanna talk about it," he mumbled shortly.

"Good!" The other dragons all gave Tai looks of disbelief. "Less talk, more action," commanded the blue and orange leader. "Izzy, get over here and see if you can get us down." His face was set in a stern glower.

Matt growled. "You . . . you unfeeling jerk! Who do you think you are!? We're not your soldiers to be ordered around, Tai!" The golden dragon's cage swung with the force of his anger. "And even if we did jump at your beck and call—which we _don't_!—can't you see something happened to him? You are such a—"

"No, Tai's right." Izzy's low voice cut right through Matt's tirade. The auburn-haired boy was finally focusing his eyes on his six imprisoned friends. He blinked a few times, then continued. "We have to leave immediately. I'm not positive how much time we have remaining, but it can't be much. And Tok's life is in danger."

The real dragon swallowed. "Lucky me," he said flatly.

Using the wall as leverage, Izzy managed to stand up straight. He took a couple of steps away, shook his head to clear it.

The pink dragon made a small worried noise. "Are you okay, Izzy?"

"I'm fine," he told her absentmindedly, studying first the row of cages, then looking about the room. "But I can't reach you at your present height, and there's nothing in this room to stand on." He made his way over to the door and tried the handle, but it was locked. Having exhausted these two possibilities, Izzy tried the next most sensible—for him—thing. He took out his laptop, plopped back onto the ground, and began furiously typing.

Mimi sighed. "Well, it's been nice knowing you, Tok," she said, slumping back down in the bottom of her cage.

"For your information," Izzy informed her, sounding a lot more like his old self with every passing minute, "I'm attempting to discover a program that might assist us in escaping." His dancing fingers momentarily froze as a window popped up on the laptop's screen.

"What is it?" Tai asked, annoyed that he couldn't see.

The boy resumed his typing, calling up file after file. "It's the hieroglyphs I've found in two distinct different locations on Digiworld so far," he told the dragons, continuing to tap away as he spoke. "When I first came across them in the factory on File Island, I observed that the different symbols each pertained to different elements of the surrounding location." His black eyes lit up with inspiration. "If the same is true for Server. . . ." Abandoning his laptop, he scrambled back to his feet and approached the wall, digging his metallic paint pen out of his pocket. Quickly he redrew the squiggly symbol he had first experimented with in the factory. The dragons watched with fascination, having no idea what it was he was doing.

Izzy capped the pen. "Now, if this works. . . ." He used his finger to rub out part of the hieroglyph.

The room plunged into blackness.

"Prodigious!"

"Congratulations, Izzy," Tok said dryly. "You can turn out the lights."

Izzy shot him a look, which was missed in the darkness. By the glow of the laptop screen he fixed the symbol and the single small lamp mounted on the wall brightened again. "That was merely an experiment to determine if the physical properties of this room can be altered using the hieroglyphs," he explained, returning to his computer. "Now I just have to deduce what symbol we can utilize to get us out of here."

"How long is that going to take?" Sora asked.

"I have no idea."

The dragons sighed.

Twenty minutes later (time that Tok spent trying to ask Izzy questions, for a change, and that Izzy spent mostly avoiding them by saying he was attempting to concentrate), the boy sat up straight. "Got it!" Izzy exclaimed.

"All right!"

" 'Bout time."

"Can we get _down_ now?"

"What did you find, exactly?"

Ignoring the various comments for a minute, Izzy returned to the spot on the wall where the symbol for light was drawn. Next to the squiggly shape he drew a square crisscrossed with six lines, like a star in a box. "This," he said without preamble, turning to the dragons, "is the symbol that regulates metal, just as the other regulates light. If my translations are correct, that is. Which I'm fairly certain they are."

"Great. He's 'fairly certain,'" groaned Joe. The others ignored him.

"When I disrupt the sequence, all the metal in the room should vanish, just as the lights went out when a piece of the symbol for light was removed," Izzy continued. "That would take care of the problems of both the cages and the locked door."

"Not the mention the Inhibitors," muttered Tok.

"Wait a minute," Sora spoke. "What about your laptop, Izzy? Isn't it made of metal too?"

"I'm already considered that," he returned. "After you're freed I'll simply reconstruct the symbol and everything should return to normal. Including my laptop."

"But isn't the paint you drew those hiero-things with made of metal too?" Matt pointed out with a frown.

"Yes, but since the metallic paint is actually what is used to construct the programming, it should remain unaffected." He had clearly thought all this through.

Joe wasn't assured. "There's that should again," the gray dragon sighed gloomily. He had been keeping track; there had been three. In his opinion that was a lot of "should" to ride a whole escape plan on.

Too bad for him no one was particularly interested in his opinion. With Tai's impatient, "Well what are you waiting for then? Get on with it!" Izzy reached out and erased part of the symbol.

Many things suddenly happened at once. The cages, as predicted, vanished. For Tok this wasn't a problem. For the others it was. Most of them managed to land on their feet. Tai even managed to glide to the ground. At that same moment the handle and lock disappeared from the door, leaving a circular hole in the wood. The door creaked open a few inches. There was also a _thunk_ as the laptop fell apart, it's metal components gone. And the room was again plunged into darkness as the metal base of the wall lamp evaporated. Fortunately Izzy was standing right under it and as the glass bulb fell he caught it before it hit the ground.

"Ow . . . man, you could've warned us," Matt's voice grumbled in the darkness.

"I thought I did," Izzy replied. "Tok? I could use some light to redrawn the symbol."

"Not a problem." There was a bright flash as a ball of indigo-colored fire exploded in the air. Izzy quickly scribbled the missing piece back into the hieroglyph.

A ripple passed through the room, felt but unseen because of the darkness. Tok snorted and another burst of fire lit the blackness. He used the moment of illumination to approach the human boy and take the light bulb from his gloved hand. With a flap of his golden wings he rose into the air and screwed it back in to the metal fixture that had reappeared.

The brightness made all seven prisoners blink and rub their eyes. When they could see again they found six empty cages hanging from the ceiling in a row, the restored laptop sitting on the ground where Izzy had left it, and the door standing slightly ajar. There were six leather collars lying on the ground as well. Without the metal stud to hold them together and keep the spell active, the Inhibitors had become nothing more than normal strips of leather, and when the stud returned they were no longer around the necks of the dragons.

"I think my legs are broken," Joe announced, staring at them fixedly with his dark blue eyes as if they might jump to life by themselves at any moment. Sora, after helping Mimi to her feet, came over and told him flatly that she wasn't going to stand around and listen to him have another pity-party. Sheepishly the gray dragon stood up.

Tai was having a small problem with his wings. Having unfolded them to catch the air for his short glide, he couldn't quite remember how to fold them again. Finally he wrestled them back into place and, with a satisfied smile, approached Izzy and Tok.

"Izzy, you're a genius," he said earnestly, at the same time slightly annoyed that he had to tip his head back to look up at the boy's face. "If I ever tell you you're not pulling your weight in this group you have my permission to knock me on my butt." Izzy grinned at this, because he was the last person who would ever knock someone on his or her butt.

"If you ever tell _anyone_ they're not pulling their weight in this group _I'll_ knock you on your butt whether you give me permission or not," Matt retorted, coming up beside them. "Now let's get out of here and find T.K. and the Digimon."

Tok's blue-green eyes widened. "Sarith," he breathed, spreading his wings and taking to the air. He hit the door hard enough to make it fly open and slam against the stone wall of the hallway, eliciting alarm and irritation from the Digi-Destined. Hovering in the doorway for a moment, he motioned them to follow, then disappeared. The other dragons looked at one another, shrugged, and started heading for the door. Izzy came after, first packing up his laptop and pocketing his pen. It felt slightly strange being the only human being in the group, but his thoughts were more occupied with the sudden worry that they might run into Jakamon or Zophia or. . . . Shuddering, he ordered his brain to stop thinking so much for a change and hurried to catch up with his friends.


	7. Final Fight

****

A Little Side Adventure

Episode Seven: Final Fight

By Shelli-Jo Pelletier

(ussfantasy@hotmail.com)

***************

The hallway was made of gray stone, just like the rest of the building. Every few hundred feet a slim window—actually just a slit in the stone about a hand's length wide, and unfortunately too small for anyone to squeeze through—allowed sunlight, warmth and fresh air to circulate through the hall. Between every other one of these windows a lamp was mounted to the wall, providing more light. The floor and ceiling were stone as well, like the room they had been trapped in.

"Izzy!" yelped Mimi suddenly, making everyone jump. "You almost stepped on my tail!"

"Shhhhh! We're trying to escape here, Mimi!" hissed Matt.

"And I _wasn't_ going to step on your tail," Izzy added with irritation.

Under all the annoyed gazes Mimi was quickly contrite. "I can't help it," she sniffed as they continued walking. "He's a lot bigger than he usually is. It's making me nervous."

Izzy refrained from pointing out that technically he was back to his normal size, and she was the one who was actually smaller.

Tai snickered. "You know Izzy, you've finally got your wish."

"My wish?"

"You're the tallest Digi-Destined!"

There was a quiet explosion of muffled laughter, quickly stifled. Up ahead, Tok snorted and rolled his eyes. Izzy couldn't decide whether to laugh or be offended, so he ended up not doing either.

The soft chatter ended at the first intersection of hallways. They had all suddenly realized just how large this place really was. Tok paused, his wing beats strangely silent in the still air, as he looked left and right and straight ahead in turn. Finally he snorted once again and set off down the right hall.

Tai didn't follow. "How do you know that's the right way?" he demanded of the flying dragon.

Tok wheeled in a tight circle. "I don't," he returned shortly. "But do you have a better idea?"

Tai sighed. "Let's go."

They continued on silently, but it didn't last long. Less than five minutes later Tai told Izzy in no uncertain terms that they needed to know exactly who they were up against. The human swallowed, knowing he was right, and began to describe the three who were holding them prisoner. He didn't know what he was going to say when he got to Vladimir, but to his relief he never actually had to reach that point. When he mentioned the fact that Zophia wanted to capture dragons because she was a magic-using sorceress—a _human_—the entire procession came to a halt and stared at him.

Izzy trailed off. "I-it's true," he insisted. "I observed it with my own eyes. I'm proof myself, as a matter of fact."

Half of them looked afraid (that being Joe and Mimi), and the rest looked like they wanted to laugh but didn't quite dare. Finally Sora sighed. "Digimon, aliens, evil magic-users. I'm going to be so happy when we get home."

"Me too," Mimi said softly.

"Me three," muttered Joe.

"Look, let's just keep going," Matt stated. "We need to get out of here." Tai was nodding agreement.

"Found it!" The triumphant voice made them all jump, as Tok soared in over their heads. They hadn't even noticed his absence. "I've found the way out!"

For a moment the Digi-Destined were stunned, then they broke out into wide grins. Realizing they hadn't exactly been the quietest group of escaped prisoners ever, they followed Tok quickly and silently as he led the way down the hall with rapid thrusts of his wings.

The dragon hadn't really discovered some secret exit or anything. As it so happened, the hallway led to a set of big double-doors, wooden and shaped like half an oval broken down the middle. Windows slightly wider than the slits in the hallway (though still not real glass-covered windows) allowed the late afternoon sunshine to pour in and proved the doors really were a passage out.

"Tok, you make pretty good guesses," Joe commented.

The sight of freedom so close had an effect on all of them. Heads tipped up just a bit, ears perked up straight, they quickened their pace slightly. This nightmare was almost over! It almost seemed unreal, thinking about it now. Certainly one of the weirdest adventures they'd had in Digiworld so far, and Tok would never think of a vacation planet in quite the same way again. And they weren't even out of it yet. . . .

Tai really hoped the doors weren't locked. He just wanted to get out of here, find T.K. and Sarith and the Digimon, and get everyone back to being human again. He had asked Tok to turn them back as soon as they had gotten out of those stupid cages and into the hall, but had been curtly informed that Tok didn't have the strength without preparing himself ahead of time and replying upon Sarith's shared energy. Even if it had been possible, both he and Sarith would have been practically comatose for hours afterward. Any transformations would have to wait until they were out of enemy territory, at least.

So that was why getting them back to their true forms was last on his list of priorities, and escaping first. And he was just about to tackle that list and hit the doors head on when Tok landed in front of him, effectively blocking the way. "It might be a trap," the real dragon frowned. "The exit seems a little too coincidental."

Tai snorted. "Yeah, Tok. That _must_ be it. I'm sure they saw us escape, followed us through the halls, then saw which way we were going and moved the door so we'd find it." His voice dripped sarcasm.

The indigo-colored dragon drew himself up straight, affronted. "I'm just saying—"

Matt sighed. "Well it's not like we have a bunch of options here, Tok. And we both have siblings to find." Tok's eyes widened as he looked at the yellow dragon. He had forgotten Matt had a little brother out there. And of course that made him think of Sarith. For the thousandth time he asked himself, was she all right? She never could take care of herself. Imagine what trouble she was getting in without him there to look after her!

"Right," Tai announced, breaking into Tok's thoughts. "So we can either go outside and face whatever _might_ be out there, or turn around and walk in here some more, running into who-knows-what."

"You don't think they'd put a guard outside, do you?" Mimi asked, gazing longingly at the sunshine streaming into the hall. All this talking was so boring. She just wanted to get outside and away from here! Why didn't anyone else?

Her remark made Izzy think. He hadn't even considered that possibility. He had assumed, because he had only seen three of their captors, that there _were_ only three. But who knew for sure how many associates Zophia had around this place? There was no way to know for certain. Perhaps if they—

A cold hand fell on his shoulder, tightening like iron. "Who-knows-what indeed," a dry voice snickered as Izzy let out a yelp.

The dragons whirled around to find the boy struggling in the grip of a huge tan-colored snake. "Izzy!" Sora cried out in horror.

Tok didn't hesitate. There was an angry scowl on his face as he reared up, and a column of blue-purple fire shot over the heads of the other dragons. It was actually a good thing that Izzy wasn't quite so tall. He just missed getting his spiky hair singed as the flames struck Jakamon in the face. The Digimon gave a roar of pain and recoiled. Izzy slipped free.

"Out! Out! _Now!_" Tai was shouting, bolting for the doors. No time for discussions on traps now. The others were right behind him and Tai hoped once again that the doors weren't locked as he leapt up and hit them.

They weren't.

The late afternoon sunlight was blindingly bright for a moment. Claws skittered across stone flagstones. A paved courtyard.

Izzy and the six dragons piled out the building, Tok spiraling upward into the air. The stone building they had been held captive in all this time appeared to be some kind of small, flat castle or fortress with two stories. They had emerged into the courtyard, and on the other side a protective wall of stone separated the fortress from the desert, which could be seen because of an arch cut into the wall where a drawbridge might have gone. The Digi-Destined turned to look for Jakamon. He was poised in the doorway, staring at them with narrowed eyes and arms crossed, an ugly smirk on his face. Warily they backed away as he advanced forward.

Suddenly a voice cried out above them, a screech of pain that was cut off immediately. Tok!

The Digi-Destined whirled. Hovering in the air above them was a transparent sphere . . . and the dragon was curled up inside. His eyes were tightly shut. He wasn't struggling.

"Tok!" Tai called, taking a step forward as he searched for a response. "Tok! What—whoa!" The blue and orange dragon pulled up short. Two figures, a blond woman in a red dress and a man in a dark suit, stood side by side across the courtyard, leaning against the wall. They were unmistakably human. Tai heard one of his friends inhale sharply. He recognized Zophia from Izzy's description, but who was the man?

If either of them noticed or cared about the Digi-Destined, they didn't show it. Their attention was narrowed to the sphere floating between the two groups. The man beckoned with a finger and the orb holding the passive Tok floated toward them.

"Hey!" Matt yelled, stepping up abreast to Tai. "You can't do that!"

Well, that worked. The woman's brown eyes focused on the group of dragons plus one. The look that crossed her face wasn't a nice one. "Jakamon," she stated flatly.

Sora gasped. They had forgotten about—!

"Swift Punch!"

A strong force picked them up from behind and slammed them into the hard ground without mercy. Sora struggled to breathe, the air knocked out of her, as she listened to the groans of her friends. Desperately she wished for Biyomon. They couldn't fight evil Digimon and sorcerers without help!

But they couldn't give up. They couldn't leave Tok to these people without a fight. Almost unbelieving her own strength, the red dragon forced her legs to pick herself up, to stand. The others were also getting to their feet. Joe swayed and almost fell over, then stood firm. Next to him Izzy was on his hands and knees, shaking his head to clear it. Ahead of them Tai and Matt glared at the humans with rage. Mimi was beside her, panting for breath. "Ouch," the pink dragon muttered softly. "That wasn't very nice."

Tai growled, sharp teeth bared. _No one_ messed with his friends! He didn't care if they were magic-users, or world leaders in the United Nations! Tok was almost in the sorceress and sorcerer's possession. The brown-haired man reached out a hand, palm up, as if expecting the sphere to settle right into his waiting grasp, although it was larger than a beach ball. Well, Tai was sick of being pushed around by these humans. He was sick of everyone trying to stop them, when all they wanted to do was get home. They didn't ask to be Digi-Destined. They didn't even ask to be yanked into Digiworld!

Matt flinched as, to his total surprise, a blast of blue fire shot from Tai straight at the two humans standing by the wall. But no one was more surprised than Tai, who promptly fell flat on his face as the eruption of flame ended as quickly as it had come.

"Whoa, man. Are you okay?" Matt nudged him with his tail, then blinked and wondered why he hadn't used an arm instead.

Tai picked up his head woozily. "Ugh. Now I know how Agumon feels," he mumbled, dazed.

Zophia and Vladimir had to dive to the side to avoid being charbroiled. Tok's sphere bobbed up into the air, like an air bubble riding a wave, as the blue fire flashed underneath. The man glowered at the six that were interfering with his plans. How annoying. Apparently he would have to take care of them anyway, although he had thought he could just ignore them until he was finished. "Zophia," he spoke, feeling a small satisfaction that the auburn-haired boy visibly cringed at his voice. "Deal with them."

"Uh oh," Izzy whispered in a small voice.

Joe stared at him in alarm. "Uh oh? What do you mean by—aaahh!"

Izzy gritted his teeth against the agony that blazed through his body. He couldn't think; he couldn't breathe. And unlike before when the experience was mercifully short—though it hadn't seemed so at the time—this just went on and on, until the world was nothing but pain, pain, pain, pain. . . .

Darkness.

The pain was gone, with an abruptness that left him dizzy. He wondered if he had passed out, but then realized he could hear sounds. Harsh breathing. A surprised hissing from Jakamon, somewhere behind him. And Zophia and Vladimir, crying out in surprise. Izzy forced his eyes open.

It wasn't total darkness, just dimness. There was a large dark form in the sky, between the fortress and the sun, casting its huge shadow on them all. Izzy squinted. Was it some kind of Digimon? And if it was, friend or foe?

_"TOK!"_ The female voice was familiar.

A blur, a streak, a bolt of green lightning came shooting down through the air on the tail of the cry. As it struck Tok the clear orb holding him popped like a bubble, and the momentum carried both of them across the courtyard, hitting the ground and skidding across the stones. They rolled and came to rest in a dazed heap. Tok opened his eyes.

"S-Sarith?"

"Tok." She sighed happily, but he saw a flash of pain underneath her smile. "I've missed you."

Whatever other reunions they might have had were cut off. The human man was suddenly standing over them, grabbing Sarith around the neck and hauling her away. Tok scrambled to his feet and took a breath, but let it out again as he realized that his flames would hit her as well. At the same time the ground shook with a strong force, and Tok would have been relieved at the sight of his teacher if he weren't preoccupied with fearing for his sister's life.

"Release my students," thundered the large white dragon as he landed. He was outside the wall surrounding fortress and courtyard, but that wasn't really a problem since he was head and shoulders taller than it was. His voice shook with rage.

Zophia produced something metallic from one knee-high boot: it was a dagger. She stood close to Vladimir and touched the sharp point to the mint green dragon's neck. Sarith stilled her struggles in the man's grasp, her eyes filled with fear as she stared at her brother on the ground.

"Make any move and she dies." Vladimir's sharp voice cut across the courtyard.

Tok froze where he stood, only scant feet away. His heart thumped painfully in his chest. Fearful of saying anything, the dragon willed with all his might for her to go, to run home, to never come back. Anything to keep her safe. But as the seconds ticked by and no one made a move or a sound, he remembered the Inhibitors and felt his heart sink. They knew dragons. They must be keeping her from doing it somehow. And if Sarith tried anything obvious . . . the knife. . . .

Brell's rumbling growl issued deep from his throat. "So, stalemate then, sorcerer and sorceress. You have one of our own, but we surround you. How long can you hold your position?"

"Long enough," the man snarled. Tok couldn't look away. He had to be there for Sarith. He had to help her. He had to get her away! He'd never forgive himself if something happened.

"Zophia," Vladimir said levelly. Tok watched with dread as the human woman withdrew something small and round from a pocket of her dress, something that crackled with yellow light, tiny bolts reaching out into the air around the little sphere. His throat constricted as he recognized a Drainage Orb, specifically created to suck the essence from a dragon. The humans' whole plan suddenly clicked into place in his mind. And he had zero time to save himself, his sister and his teacher from destruction! The dragon's back legs tensed as he prepared to leap at the magic-users.

"Hey, you meanies leave Sarith alone!"

Heads snapped toward the arch that offered the exit into the desert. There, standing under the curved opening in the stone wall, were seven angry-looking Digimon and—

"T.K!" yelled Matt, bolting forward, everything and everyone else forgotten. The other Digi-Destined followed him for a joyous reuniting with their Digimon. Hugs were shared all around, and even some tears. But the happiness was brief as the situation they were in returned to them.

Vladimir, Zophia and Tok had also looked over, caught off guard by the sudden voice. But this was a perfect opportunity Sarith had been praying for. Her tail snapped up like a whip, catching Zophia across the wrist. The dagger went flying as the woman gave a screech of pain, and at the same time Sarith threw open her wings, breaking Vladimir's hold on her. Painfully she flapped a few times to gain altitude away from her prisoners and landed again farther off, out of reach.

Brell snarled and opened his jaws but had to hesitate when he realized Tok was too close to the humans. The little dragon saw this too, and scrambled away before they could recover and make him their next hostage. When the way was clear the great dragon let loose a blazing ball of white fire with an angry roar. The humans below him barely had time to throw up their hands, palms out. It was a futile, hopeless action. And yet, when the fireball should have consumed them, instead they seemed to be suddenly safe inside some kind of translucent bubble. The fire struck the barrier, curled around its curved edges and dispersed.

Zophia still clutched the Drainage Orb in her hand. The forks of lightning spurting from it where getting brighter and longer every moment, but didn't seem to cause any discomfort to the two humans. Brell winced and drew back from the wall as the yellow light expanded outward, straight through the shield just put up. He recognized the signs as well. Tok and Sarith backed away until they had joined the group of Digimon and Digi-Destined-turned-dragons (plus T.K. and Izzy) at the archway of the wall.

"What's going on, Sarith?" T.K. worried.

Her voice was strained as she answered. "Drainage Orb. Unless given a specific target it's just going to keep expanding until it finds some dragons. Then. . . ." She shuddered and didn't finish.

"We've got to get through the shield and stop them," muttered Tok, watching the bright dome across the courtyard through narrowed blue-green eyes.

"Well this . . . er, Drainage Orb harm anything else?" Izzy asked.

Sarith shook her head. "It shouldn't, anyway. It supposed to be set to a specific target, a dragon, but if it isn't it just goes into search mode. That's what it's doing now. Anything that's not a dragon should be ignored, just like the two humans and their shield right now." She turned away from the sight to look up at the red-haired boy. "You have a plan, Izzy?"

"I don't know how strong that shield thing is, but let's see if it can stand up against a Champion Digimon. Tentomon, digi-volve!"

"Right!" buzzed the red and black bug. "Tentomon digi-volve to . . . Kabuterimon!"

The giant gray and blue insect swooped over fortress and the courtyard, hovering above the shield and the lightning bolts extending out in all directions. The light given off was so intense the sorcerer and sorceress could not be seen within. Still determined, Kabuterimon's four wings stilled as he landed, then stomped on the dome-shaped protection with one foot. The impact was enough to shake the ground and everyone on it, but not enough to break the shield.

"Brell, help me!" implored the Champion, buzzing back up into the air again. The white dragon took off as well. Together the two large beasts hovered in the air.

"Electro Shocker!" A ball of purple and blue electricity formed.

"Rrrraaawww!" Brell let loose a similar ball of white-hot fire.

The two blasts streaked down and impacted on the shield. On the ground the little band covered their eyes as the light brightened considerably. It was gone in an instant, leaving bright white spots dancing before everyone's eyes, and taking the magic-users' barrier with it!

There was no time for celebration. The Drainage Orb's questing fingers were still stretching outward, and as the shield failed two voices within shouted the same unintelligible phrase. Mimi's pink ears perked upright. She thought she had heard the word "mirror." But what could that mean?

Like a hatching egg, as the shield disintegrated quick black forms streaked out of it, two shooting up into the sky and the rest darting toward the group on the ground. This wasn't over yet!

The dragons, Digi-Destined and Digimon scattered as the strange . . . _things_ swooped toward them. These black shapes zipped around, too fast to really make out, but as they made several passes it looked like they were nothing more than shadows. Flat, two-dimensional, transparent forms of black. And the creepiest thing about them was that there seemed to be several four-footed, winged shadows, two humanoid ones, and the others an odd combination of shapes.

Tok dodged a winged one that leapt at him and spared a glance up at the sky. Sure enough another winged black shape, only much bigger, sparred with Brell, and one just as large with four wings and a long horn on its nose battled Kabuterimon.

Mimi was _not_ thrilled to find out what they had meant by "mirror."

T.K. screamed as a pair of clawed hands closed around his backpack and started to lift him into the air. Matt, not two steps away, growled and leapt at the shadow being . . . and passed right through.

"Blue Blaster!"

Gabumon's attack was more effective. The bright blue energy sliced through the creature's arm and T.K. dropped safely back to earth. The other Digimon saw this and took their cue, striking out at the shadows and keeping them away from their partners.

"Marching Fishes!"

"Spiral Twister!"

"Bubble Blow!"

A flash of bright fire, and Tai was about to congratulate Agumon when he remembered it was Koromon who was by his side, and saw Tok and Sarith take another winged one down with combined green and indigo flames. For a while there was no time to think of how others were doing, of becoming human again, of who the big white dragon was or what those two humans were doing. Questions would have to be answered later. For now, the entire world had narrowed down to the fight. To slipping through the dark claws aimed at them. To keeping the black creatures from making a successful strike. To staying alive.

Tok shot another creature with a burst of flame, but three more took its place. There were too many of them! Everywhere at once. Blurs of speed. And half his mind was taken up with worry for Sarith. Why did she drag her wings, almost tripping over them instead of folding them along her back? Why didn't she take to the air to fight? Had she gotten hurt while he had been captured? Had the sorcerer and sorceress injured her more than he realized? He _never_ should have thought of coming here! This was a fight for survival, not a vacation! There hadn't been anything relaxing about this place for a long time now.

At that moment two of the howling dragon-things swooped under his wings—he cursed himself for becoming distracted with thoughts—and toward the mint green shape on the ground. Sarith's blue-green eyes narrowed and she beat one back with a fireball, but the other circled around and came at her from behind. Forgetting in his fright that they were immune to physical attacks, Tok folded his wings and dove to the rescue.

"Tok!" Sarith cried out in horror. She was unable to look away as he plummeted through the transparent shape and straight into the ground. There was a sickening crunch. The action caused the shadow being to momentarily hesitate, and that was long enough for a bolt of green energy to shoot through it from the side. Before she could thank Biyomon she was already flapping away and turning her attack on one of the shadows on the ground.

Sarith ran to her fallen brother instead, who was flopped over on the stone. Terrified that he had broken something (something like his head) she refrained from touching him, but called his name frantically, sitting back on her haunches and rowing the air with her wings. That hurt excruciatingly, but she ignored the pain and instead watched the wind from the movement wash over her brother, blowing his ears back and making his wing membranes flutter.

Slowly, his eyes slid opened.

"Tok!" she gasped, sagging back on all fours and letting her wings fall. "Are you—"

"Look out!" He surged to his feet and leapt skyward in one fluid movement, bowling her over as he took her by surprise. A shadowy creature zipped through the space they were standing in a moment before, then vanished as mingled mint and blue-purple flames consumed it.

Tai tried to rapidly survey the situation as best he could, dodging shadows and staying close to Koromon. Things were not going well. With Kabuterimon preoccupied and Palmon's Poison Ivy useless against the black things, they were down to only seven effective fighters (counting Sarith and Tok), and Gomamon's fish weren't really doing anything but providing a distraction. That left seven defenseless Digi-Destined to protect, and Sarith and Tok were having enough problems looking out for each other. Fortunately Gabumon and Biyomon were watching out for Izzy and Mimi along with Matt and Sora, and Palmon helped where she could, yanking her friends away from the grasping claws of the shadows.

A quick count told him there were still six of the shadows to contend with, and that didn't count the two big ones—

"Tai look out!" Koromon cried.

—make that seven, the blue dragon corrected himself, as he ducked and a small shadow-being sailed over his head. Nope, six. The thing evaporated under a hail of pink bubbles.

"Izzy, look out!" the deep voice of Kabuterimon rang out in alarm. Digi-Destined heads turned to the sky. Digimon heads couldn't chance looking away from their opponents.

The good news was Brell and Kabuterimon appeared to have dispatched one of the giant shadows. The bad news was that the remaining one was speeding toward them with the obvious intent to take out the smaller and easier targets, Kabuterimon hot on its heels.

"Everyone get out of the way!" shouted Izzy unnecessarily. The long horn of the shadow creature was poised to skewer the hapless beings below. Tok and Sarith, the Digi-Destined, and the Digimon scattered in all directions. Just as the large black thing hit the ground an Electro Shocker blasted it into little shadowy bits. Without missing a beat Kabuterimon devolved into Tentomon and sent a Super Shocker surging through one of the remaining smaller shadows that was closing in on Izzy. Then the poor Digimon landed beside his partner, panting. It was a good thing they had eaten a decent meal before arriving!

The last five shadows were destroyed as the Digimon and the two dragon siblings worked together to get rid of them. Finally the noises of battle were gone. No one yelled their attack names, or called warnings to each other. Exhausted, battered, covered with dirt and scratches from the fights, the sixteen collapsed wherever they happened to be standing as the last black creature vanished in a burst of blue energy.

For several long moments the only sound was the group's heaving breathing. Finally Sarith pushed herself upright and looked around. She opened her mouth to speak, coughed, then tried again. "Brell? Where's Brell?" she croaked. "And the humans?"

The tired adventurers sat up, looked around. The courtyard showed signs of a battle. Small chucks were broken off the wall of the fortress and the wall separating it from the desert. Dark strips streaked the stone where attacks had missed. The flagstones of the courtyard were torn up in places. But the open space was empty. Zophia and Vladimir had vanished, along with their Drainage Orb.

"Jakamon's gone too," Joe commented, sounding relieved. "I sure hope he doesn't come back."

"I don't think so," Biyomon assured him. "Jakamon is a cowardly virus Digimon. He wouldn't hang around if things didn't look like they were going his way. He'd take the easy way out and run away."

"Sarith?" Tok watched as she started trotting toward the archway leading to the desert. "Where are you going?"

"I have to find Brell!" she called over her shoulder. Tok sighed and started after her, also walking. He was too tired to fly.

The Digi-Destined looked at one another. "Well," Tai finally said. "We can either go look for that big white guy with Tok and Sarith, or we could go and search that castle-thing over there. I'm _starving_. We haven't eaten since, when, yesterday? Evil magic-users have to eat too, right?"

"Or we could just sit here," Joe put in helpfully.

"I like that," sighed Mimi. "My feet hurt, and I have twice as many as usual this time."

Too late. Tai had already started for the doors, Koromon bouncing at his side and asking if splitting up was such a good idea.

Matt rolled his blue eyes. "He's going to go anyway, with someone or not, so he'd better have someone to watch his back. Come on, Gabumon."

"I'm coming too!" T.K. scrambled up and hurried after the yellow dragon and canine Digimon, Tokomon perched in his usual place on his hat. The little blond boy hugged the dragon as they walked, then giggled. "It's kinda weird having a big brother the same size as I am," he said.

Matt grinned. "You're too late, little bro. Tai already made the small dragon joke. But speaking of that, what happened to you?"

"It was Brell! He's Sarith's teacher, you know. She went to get him after we found the Digimon. After the big gray cloud took you guys away. . . ." The six of them disappeared inside the fortress and T.K.'s voice faded away.

"We should go help Sarith and Tok," Mimi's plant Digimon spoke up as the others left.

"Palmon's right. Come on, Biyo." Sora started for the arch, and the others followed. But as soon as they cleared the wall and saw what lay beyond, the group of eight broke into a run, despite how tired they were.

Two small figures were crouched to one side to Brell's head, the great white form stretched out motionless on the sand. Like the walls of the courtyard, ugly black streaks ran down his pale body. His eyes were closed.

"Brell!" Sarith shrieked, anguished. "Brell, wake up!" When she got no response she turned, sobbing, to her brother. Tok flapped a wing and sent a breeze blowing over her, which seemed to be the dragon equivalent of a hug.

"He was hit pretty bad during the fight," Tentomon spoke up, worry in his voice as he buzzed around the large dragon's head. "The shadow thing got a few good swipes at him before he was able to destroy it, then he started heading right for the ground. I was going to help, but mine went after you guys, so. . . ." The insect Digimon landed beside Izzy, orange antennae drooping, and the boy patted him reassuringly on the shell.

"Will he be all right?" Sora asked in concern.

"I'm sure he will," Tok declared firmly. "We'll just wait here until he wakes up, or until Tai and the others come back." So saying he yawned and stretched out next to Brell, snoring in moments. Whether it was a joke or he really fell asleep that fast was unknown.

Sarith smiled at him fondly. "Party pooper," she chuckled, curling up next to him. Izzy sat down and pulled out his laptop, soon tapping away. The others settled down as well. Sarith and the Digimon were the ones to quickly follow Tok into unconsciousness.

Joe's dark blue eyes were on the sky. It was the deep blue of late evening. The sun would be setting soon. "I think some of us should stay awake, just to be safe." The gray dragon spoke quietly so he wouldn't wake up Gomamon, sleeping beside him. The little seal Digimon was flopped over on his back with one flipper covering his face. Only his bright orange shock of hair and purple-tipped ears poked out.

"I agree," concurred Sora. "But let's let the Digimon sleep. They had a big battle."

"Oh yeah, and we just sat on the sidelines," grumbled Mimi. "I'm too hungry to be tired anyway. Do you think Matt and Tai found anything to eat?"

Sora sighed. "I'm sure when they do they'll come and get us, Mimi." Her bright yellow eyes rolled upward to look at the silent shape of Brell. "Who do you think this Brell guy is?"

Mimi yawned. "Didn't either Sarith or Tok mention him before?"

The boy typing at the laptop stilled his hands as he thought. "The name does sound familiar. . . ." In a moment he had it. "Sarith mentioned him last night. She said he was her teacher."

Joe sat up a little straighter. "Last night? Man, it feels like ages ago. Just think, two days ago we had no idea aliens from other planets visited Earth in disguise."

"And when summer started we had no idea we'd be pulled from camp to this world, to be the Digi-Destined," Izzy pointed out, before resuming typing.

Mimi was staring at Brell's closed eyelid. She blinked her own pale green eyes, then turned to her friends. "Do you think he gives homework?" Joe and Sora blinked at her.

"Anything is possible, young one," a deep, soft voice rumbled with amusement.

Mimi, Sora, Joe and Izzy started in surprise. Sarith and Tok were instantly awake and on their feet. The Digimon jumped up too. "Eek!" screeched Tentomon. "Don't let him step on me!" It was unclear whether he meant Brell or some phantom of his dreams.

One bright green eye with a large round pupil was half-open and gazing at them all.

"Brell! Oh, Brell!" Sarith gasped. "Are you all right? The humans, and then the shadows, and the fight, and you—"

"I will recover," he assured her, cutting off her babbling. His green eye rolled to the blue-purple dragon. "And you, Tok?"

The young dragon's own eyes were on the ground, and he shifted restlessly. "I'll be all right, Brell," he said softly.

The older dragon made a small noise in his throat, and then he was looking at the Digi-Destined. Joe swallowed. "You. You are human."

"How's he know?" Mimi whispered, none-too-softly, to Sora. The red dragon shushed her but Brell only smiled, the corner of his mouth pulling back and up.

"Can you fix us?" Joe wanted to know.

A quiet chuckle. The teacher's eyelid fell halfway. "You will indeed be human once again, young ones. But first, I must rest. My wounds are not life threatening, but deep. Sleep well, children. We will speak more in the morning." The green eye closed once again. His breath soon became deep and even.

A huge sigh of relief escaped from Sarith's lungs, and she turned to her brother with a bright grin. "Did you hear that, Tok? He said he's going to be all right! He's going to be all right!" Unable to control her elation, the mint dragon twirled in a circle, laughing.

Tok watched and gave a small, nonchalant smile. "I told you."

"You did!" she cheered, then immediately shrank back. "Oops. I shouldn't be so loud." She giggled. "Come on, let's go find T.K. and the others!" Still grinning wildly, she headed for the fortress at a dead run.

With a grin of his own, Tok commented, "Now there's the sister I knew before this whole mess started. Should we go rescue the guys, or should we just leave them to Sarith?"

Mimi was already leaving. "Are you crazy?" she called over her shoulder. "And leave all the food to them?"

Palmon ran after her, followed by the other Digimon, Digi-Destined-turned-dragons, and Izzy. Tok came last, casting one more glance at the silent Brell out of the corner of his eye. Was it his imagination, or did the old dragon chuckle softly as he walked away?

Inside the ten of them found Gabumon stationed at the end of the hall. As he led them to a stairway for the second floor the canine Digimon explained that Matt had been worried about another attack, either from Jakamon or the man and woman, and had asked Gabumon to stand guard just in case. Thankfully he hadn't seen or heard anything so far. "This place seems deserted," concluded the Rookie.

They found Tai, Koromon, Matt, T.K. and Tokomon in a room on the second floor, stone like everything else. There was a long table in the center of the room, draped with a white tablecloth, and the boys were busy covering it with dishes and food from the cabinets and fridge when they came in. Tai looked up. "We found the kitchen guys! And it's stocked!"

"I will say this for magic-users," Matt puffed, lifting a large platter of cooked turkey up to the tabletop with T.K.'s help, "they sure know how to live."

"This place was probably already here and they just found it," was Sora's opinion. She looked at Biyomon questionably, but the parrot Digimon only shrugged.

"I've never been to Server before," she reminded Sora as they all took their places around the table. A lot of the chairs were mismatched, and the red dragon figured they must have been taken from other rooms in the building so that there would be places for everyone to sit.

"That's right, I forgot," Mimi sighed, shaking her horned head. "I'd rather like to think we all knew where we were and what we were doing."

"What about Brell?" T.K. wanted to know as everyone grabbed plates and began to help themselves. The Digi-Destined, most a bit smaller than they usually were, stood in the seats of the chairs and braced their front feet on the table's edge and found they could manage all right. Tok and Sarith copied their example. "Won't he be hungry?" the little boy continued. "I don't think there's enough here in the whole castle to fill him up!"

Sarith grinned. "Brell will eat when we get home."

"Yeah, what do dragons eat?" Izzy wondered curiously, stuffing a roll into his mouth.

"Badles, mostly," Tok put in. At their blank looks he chuckled. "Uh, kind of like really big deer, but with three horns. We keep herds of them in valleys not far from the Clan Grounds."

"Eeewwww!" Mimi squealed. "Don't you cook them first?"

"But you don't always cook your fish," Sarith pointed out, gulping down one of the purple fruits that had been growing in the hidden forest in the desert. She was rather pleasantly surprised to find them in the fortress.

"There's a big difference between sushi and dead deer," grumbled the pink dragon, sniffing delicately.

"That's your opinion," Tok returned smugly. Mimi stuck her tongue out at him.

"We're omnivores. We eat fruits and vegetables too," added Sarith, chomping on another fruit and licking her lips. "Just like humans."

Tai snorted. "Yeah. _Just_ like humans. Man, I don't even know why we're considered different people. I mean, I can barely tell us apart!" He grinned and ducked a flying grape. Well, it looked like a grape anyway. He hadn't actually tried the plate of them yet, and one could never be positive in Digiworld.

"Hey, let's not waste food here," the red dragon declared, eyeing Tok. He ducked his head sheepishly, but was so busy looking apologetic that he missed Tai's return volley and was beaned in the head with another grape. The real dragon's head snapped up with affront.

"Boys," Sarith sighed, rolling her blue-green eyes heavenward.

"Hey, don't pull me into this," Matt objected.

The mint dragon grinned cheekily. "You're right. It must be a blue thing."

Tok gave his characteristic snort and rolling of the eyes. Tai looked insulted. Then they both looked at each other and laughed.

"Speaking of the big white guy," Tai said after he composed himself, "who is he exactly? T.K. said he was your teacher."

Sarith nodded eagerly. "Yes, Brell teaches all the young dragons of the Clan."

"That's our word for city, by the way," Tok added. "Though I guess it's more like a town. Anyway, Brell is very wise. He teaches us about the universe, and about the people and the history of the planets that we visit."

Izzy wiped crumbs off his fingers with a napkin. "Is that how you knew about the Inhibitors and the Drainage Orb?" he wondered. Tok nodded.

"Brell teaches us about ourselves as well," put in Sarith. "And helps us with our strengths and weaknesses." Her brother's blue-green eyes looked down at the tablecloth.

Seeing him, she immediately felt bad and leaned over to nudge him. "Don't feel so bad, Tok. I'm sure nobody's gonna blame us. I mean, they'll probably be so worried about those humans that we won't even get in trouble!" She laughed lightly, and a little forcefully.

The Digi-Destined had been listening with mostly confusion. "Why would you get in trouble?" asked Joe.

Tok gave a sardonic grin. "Well, first for consorting with humans. We're not supposed to. Humans are dangerous, the adults say. You're only supposed to talk with them if you look like a human too, and you should have a grownup with you. That's why it was so hard to talk Mom and Dad into letting us come here for vacation, since it's so closely connected with Earth. But we didn't think there were any humans here." The Digi-Destined had various degrees of indignant and annoyed expressions on their faces as he spoke.

"And we're _really_ not supposed to let other people know about our powers, or use them without permission," Sarith explained. "That's why Tok's so worried. He might get in big trouble for turning you all into dragons. It's never been done before, really." Some of them, most notably Joe, blanched at that. "But _I_ don't see what the big deal is. I _like_ humans, if they're like you guys, and we didn't have a choice about the changing thing. Well, I mean, we didn't think we did at the time." She smiled at them all.

"I like humans too," piped up Tokomon. "They're fun!"

"And they can be funny. Ha!" Gomamon put in, grinning.

"And kinda cute." That was Koromon.

"And they have beautiful hair." Palmon looked at Mimi. "Uh, most of the time. Hee hee."

Gabumon chuckled. "Or no hair at all," he finished, nudging Matt with an elbow.

By now, the Digimon and Digi-Destined were cracking up too much to speak, all sharing some private joke. It was Tok and Sarith's turn to look confused as they blinked at each other and shrugged.

The movement caused Sarith to wince. She peered over her shoulder at her yellow wings. "Hope Dad won't be too disappointed that I'm not going to be able to be in the spring races next week," she murmured. "Ah well. There's always next year, anyway."

Tok's eyes were immediately filled with worry. "What happened to you?" he demanded. The others quieted down quickly, hearing the seriousness in his voice.

But she waved a clawed hand, dismissive. "Just something that needed to be done."

T.K. leaned forward. "That's right! Sarith caught me when I fell!" he exclaimed, quite happy to tell the story a second time. The helmeted boy held up both hands so could demonstrate with them. "She dove right down and caught me, and then we landed in the forest, because the cloud thing was coming after us! And then we met a Pagumon!"

"Pagumon? One of those little gray heads?" Mimi asked.

"Yup." The little boy nodded enthusiastically. "He had this hiding tree, and Sarith made him take us inside."

Joe blinked. "Hiding tree?"

Izzy spoke up. "You hide in them," he explained.

"Uh huh. That would probably explain the name then, huh?"

T.K. grinned. "And the gray cloud couldn't find us, so it left. Then we climbed back up the cliff—Sarith flew us, I mean—"

"She _what!?_" Tok interrupted, his head jerking to the side so he could stare at her. "You what!?" he repeated, flabbergasted.

Sarith stretched her neck, slightly proud. "It was something that needed to be done," she said simply.

"You _carried_ him?"

"Well we had to see what happened to you, didn't we?"

"And we found the Digimon!" T.K. said, hugging Tokomon so tightly he squeaked. "But we couldn't find anyone else! So Sarith said she'd go back home and get her mom and dad, only she got her teacher instead. And _he_ was the one who turned me back into _me_ again." The little boy smiled.

"I had been wondering," admitted Izzy.

"Then Brell said we had to rescue you guys, so he picked us up and off we went!" continued T.K. "It's lots of fun flying so fast. The wind blows back your hair and everything looks so tiny down below!" He giggled.

"While we were flying Sarith told me lotsa stuff, like why Brell looks different than she does. It's because he's from another continent. In the south, she says. And know what else she said?" T.K. leaned forward, like he had a secret. Sarith grinned. "She said she appeared right in Brell's home, and he was so surprised to see her because she had just left! Like no time had passed at all!" His blue eyes were wide. "Do you think that means no time's gone by at home? Will it be like we just left, and we can go home and our moms and dads won't even have missed us?"

Even Matt and Tai looked surprised at this, so the little boy must have not revealed this before. Izzy looked thoughtful. "I never considered, but I suppose it is possible that time travels at a different speed in Digiworld than it does on Earth," was his opinion. "However, I don't have any evidence to support this. It's just as possible that the Digiworld's time is synchronized with our own, and it's the dragons' homeworld that is different."

"Don't look at me," Tok shrugged, when the short boy did just that. "I have no idea. How time is affected by our form of travel isn't my forte."

"Mine either," admitted Sarith. "Brell can probably tell us in the morning though." She yawned. "Actually, everything's gonna look better in the morning. Anyone else ready for sleep?" She looked around and everyone's plates were empty. They had been so lost in conversation that no one had noticed dinner had ended a long time ago. Then again, this was the first time they were all together again. They still had some catching up to do. Like what had happened while she, T.K. and the Digimon were getting help?

The lemon-colored dragon cleared his throat. "Yeah, but is it safe to sleep?" he asked the group. Everyone turned to look at him. "Has anyone else noticed that those magic-users disappeared kind of coincidentally?"

Tai barked a short laugh. "They ran back home with their tails between their legs because they saw we were winning!"

Matt shot him a look. "How much sense does that make, Tai? They had the upper hand. We were all fighting those shadows; they could have picked us off one by one, but instead they just vanished. Jakamon too. Why did all our enemies disappear right when they could have struck and won?"

An uncomfortable silence fell. "Maybe someone's helping us?" Joe ventured weakly.

"Who, Gennai?" returned Matt, a bit sarcastically.

"He's never done anything like that before," Izzy reminded him seriously.

The golden dragon rolled his eyes. "No duh."

Suddenly Mimi brightened. "I have an idea!" The group turned to look at her expectantly. "Why can't Tok and Sarith tell us if they're here?"

The real dragons blinked, in unison no less. "Uh . . . how would we know?" Tok asked.

"Can't you, you know, sense their evil, or something like that?"

That elicited a not unkind laugh from Sarith. "We don't sense evil; we sense the intentions in others," she explained. "It's just like sight, or smell. Something has to be present to perceive it."

"What about back at the oasis?" the red dragon pointed out. "There wasn't anything to perceive there."

Tok shook his head. "There was, it was just very far away. And it was a _very_ powerful evil, which was why I was able to. I think what happened was that I was sensing the intentions of the being who created the Spell Cloud magnified, and if Izzy says that human woman was behind it. . . ." The indigo-colored dragon had yet to refer to Zophia by name. Something about the fact that she wanted to kill him and extract his abilities for herself made him loath to consider her at the same level as he and his friends.

The redheaded boy was nodding. "If Zophia's harmful intent was feeding the Spell Cloud to maintain it, her evil would have been amplified at such a rate that you would be able to sense it at greater distances for as long as the Spell Cloud was maintained."

Matt grinned. "Leave it to Izzy to put magic in technical terms."

Tok shrugged. "It makes sense."

"Who _was_ that woman, anyway?" Sarith wanted to know. "And the other human, and that Digimon everyone keeps talking about, Jakamon? What exactly happened to you guys?" The Digimon made similar comments. They were curious about what happened to their human partners too!

"Izzy knows the most about it," declared Tai, giving the boy a look. The blue dragon _did_ believe that everyone was entitled to privacy. But he was the leader, and it was the leader's job to make sure his teammates were all right. He'd messed up once with Koromon, forcing him to digi-volve. He wasn't going to do it again. If he could help it, anyway. And Izzy definitely was not all right.

Suddenly the center of attention, the short boy coughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Zophia—the woman—wanted to know why we were here. That's why she brought me to her room to speak with her. She-she told me she was a user of magic, a sorceress apprenticed to a man named Vladimir, and that this was her initiation."

"Then I'd say she failed!" cracked Tai, grinning wickedly. Sarith, who was sitting between Tai and Tok, rapped him on the snout with the end of her tail and told him to be quiet.

"She told me she had a spell that would drain the energy from a dragon, and could be used to augment her own powers. That would be the Drainage Orb, I would surmise."

Tok shuddered. "Nasty thing, that. Made on Earth long, long ago, according to Brell. One of the reasons we stopped going there without disguises. I didn't know they still existed, though."

Izzy's black eyes widened a little. "Zophia had a book that she repeatedly looked in. I believe her . . . ah, spells were kept in there. Maybe if it's still in the room with the mirror—"

Matt looked up. "A room with a mirror? With a tall lamp, and a red chair?" When Izzy nodded the yellow dragon sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "That was one of the rooms we checked when we were looking for the kitchen. There was a wooden stand thing in front of the mirror, and it looked like it would hold a book or something, but there wasn't anything like that in the room."

The redhead's shoulders slumped. "She must have retrieved it sometime after they disappeared from the courtyard," he murmured.

"Was _she_ the one that turned you back into a human?" Sarith asked, her blue-green eyes wide. He nodded wordlessly, and she turned to her brother. "How is that possible?"

His mouth set into a deep frown. "I . . . don't know. I mean, Brell knows how to undo the transformation, but he's the one who taught me how to do it in the first place. How a human learned how, I have no clue." He shuddered slightly. "But I don't like it."

"Me either," she agreed. "But Brell can take care of it. That's what teachers are for." She grinned. "So, how did you escape?"

Tai opened his mouth but Izzy spoke first, glad that Sarith had unknowingly allowed him to skip his interrogation. The short boy still didn't want to think about it; he _certainly_ didn't want to talk about it. "It was simply a matter of using a series of symbols which have the ability to effect the physical qualities of the Digiworld. I discovered them on File Island."

"And when we managed to find our way outside," contributed Tok, "that sorcerer and sorceress attacked us. But I'd like to know how they knew where we were."

"Maybe it's the only exit," Biyomon suggested. "They found out you were gone and just waited for you."

"But then how did they get there first?" Sarith asked.

The gray dragon looked around the room. "Maybe there are secret passages, just like in real castles. Maybe they're hiding in one right now! Maybe they're just waiting—"

Tai rolled his eyes. "Chill, Joe. They're gone. If they were here they would have attacked us while we were fighting, like Matt said."

Matt frowned. "That's not what I meant."

The blue and orange dragon's tail twitched in annoyance. "Fine, fine. Whatever. If you're so totally sure they're going to come and get us in the night, you can stand guard. No skin, or scales or whatever, off my nose. But I tell ya, they're gone!" With a final look around the table Tai jumped down from his chair and headed out of the room.

That seemed to be the signal for the end of dinner. Without cleaning up (There wasn't really a need to, with the place deserted. They were all too tired to do much cleaning anyway.) the group left the kitchen and headed out into the hall. T.K. had fallen asleep at the table, his head pillowed in his arms, and Matt had to wake him before they fell too far behind the others. Sarith ran ahead and caught up with Tai, suggesting they spend the night out in the desert by Brell. She thought it would be safer for them and for the large white dragon as well. Besides, she was still a little bit worried about him. Koromon (who was riding on Ta back, between his wings) thought it was a good idea too, which was probably the factor that convinced the blue dragon.

So together they trooped out of the fortress, across the courtyard, and through the archway to the desert sands. The sun had long since set, and the swollen blue orb of the moon shone down amid a sprinkling of stars across the heavens. No one spoke, but it was more from exhaustion than being uncomfortable. The day of flight and capture and battle had taken its toll on them all.

Just like the previous night at the oasis, it was warm enough not to need a fire. Even if they wanted one, there was no wood, unless they wanted to go search the fortress again. Luckily the moon and stars were again bright enough to light the way. Matt sat down and watched as the others, already half asleep, curled up or stretched out on the warm sand. Gabumon plopped down beside him.

"Staying up?" the white and blue-furred Digimon asked casually.

"Yup."

There was no answer, but the Digimon made no move to prepare for sleep. The yellow dragon felt a rush of warmth in his chest. Gabumon was always watching out for him. Matt had never had anyone to watch out for him, not like his Digimon did. Usually it was himself doing the watching over T.K. It was a nice feeling.

As Joe and Gomamon passed the duo, the gray dragon blinked sleepily at them. "Better safe than sorry," he said. "Wake me in an hour." A few others spoke up with similar remarks.

Tai made a "humph" noise and rolled over.


	8. Returning to Normal

****

A Little Side Adventure

Episode Eight: Returning to Normal

By Shelli-Jo Pelletier

(ussfantasy@hotmail.com)

***************

Matt awoke in the morning with a yawn, slowly opening his eyes to be greeted with Tai's smirking face. "Sleep well?" the other dragon asked snidely. "Glad to see we didn't lose anyone in the night. Very dangerous, sleeping next to empty castles, you know."

"Shut up, Tai," Matt scowled. He didn't point out that he was _glad_ nothing had happened last night. He didn't mention that they _always_ had a night watch, to protect themselves from evil Digimon. It was too early in the morning for this. Blinking sleep from his eyes, he sat up and stretched, looking around. Only half the group was awake. Gabumon snored softly beside him.

Surprisingly, Brell was one of the conscious ones. His large green eyes were focused on Tok, sitting just in front of his snout with ears flattened back against his head. They were deep in conversation, but the only thing that came to the Matt in the still desert air was a low rumbling murmur.

Matt watched them for a few minutes, wondering about this and that as his brain began to shake itself from the fog of slumber. He still didn't believe Zophia and Vladimir were really gone. It just didn't make sense. Why leave while you were winning? They had put too much into this to just give up like that.

He also wondered how long until the dragons were on their way. He admitted to himself that he would miss the two dragon siblings. Sarith made him think of T.K., all bubbly and happy with life. And she had looked after his brother and protected him. For that Matt was grateful. Tok, too, would be missed. Tok reminded him of himself. It was a relief to have someone else with a level head in the group.

That led to the thought of what it would be like to be human again. Would it feel strange, to walk around on two feet and wear his jeans and turtleneck again? He'd gotten used to having four feet and using his tail as an extra appendage. One thing he did miss though was his harmonica. Suddenly he wished he had it with him. He felt like playing. Remembering what Tok had said about all their possessions still being a part of them he grinned and hummed a few notes.

Izzy was sitting a little ways off, again typing at his laptop. Geesh, didn't that guy ever give it a rest? Matt wondered what he was hiding, from all of them and from himself.

The dragon shook his head with a rueful smile. Leave the deep philosophy for another time. He stood, preparing to attempt a conversation by heading over to Tai and Koromon, who were talking about returning to the fortress to get breakfast.

The attack came without warning.

Suddenly the quiet morning was obliterated. The roaring of a strong wind pounding down on them all, followed by a giant flash of bright light. Brell's great head snapped up at the same time, perhaps sensing the attack somehow, with an angry roar of his own. He threw open a wing to cover the humans, Digimon and dragons as the light struck where they had been clustered. His cry of rage became one of pain.

Anyone who had been asleep was no longer so. Sarith shrieked and leaned against her brother as the light impacted on her mentor's wing. Mimi was wailing. Matt found himself next to T.K. without consciously remembering going to him. The little boy's eyes were wide and tear-filled. "What's going on, Matt?" he sniffed, holding Tokomon close.

"I get to tell Tai 'I told you so'," he muttered darkly, glaring at the fortress. For there, standing on the wall about the archway, were Zophia and Vladimir. They were again encased in their protective shielding.

The man in the dark brown suit raised his arms over his head. A ball of pulsing white light filled his palms, illuminating his leering face and that of his apprentice. For a split-second they just stood there, totally in control, and then the pulsing light shot forward.

"Nova Blast!"

"Meteor Wing!"

On the ground the crowd flinched back as the light and the wall were engulfed in flames. The ground shook with giant steps. A bird-like scream ripped through the air. Brell folded back his blackened wing.

Sora and Biyomon stared as a fiery orange Birdramon soared overhead. Koromon hid under Tai as a Greymon stomped across the desert toward them. It was too early for him to deal with another Greymon. The two Champion Digimon took position on either side of Brell and the children, standing ready.

But as the dust cleared from their combined fiery attacks, it became apparent that they had already accomplished their task. There was a large crack through the stone arch, and some chunks of the wall had broken off and littered the ground. The humans were gone.

Warily, the striped dinosaur stomped forward and sniffed the wall. He leaned over the wall and peered down into the courtyard. The firebird gave a quiet caw.

Brell's head came up, his green eyes locked on the new monsters. After a moment his stance relaxed and he uncoiled from his protective position over the group of youngsters. "I appreciate your timely arrival," the white dragon said dryly.

"You _know_ them?" Tai asked in disbelief.

"He should," muttered Tok softly. "They're my mom and dad."

Heads snapped around to stare at the dragon siblings. Tails tucked in, ears flattened, heads bowed, they looked miserable (though not really afraid). Sarith gave the Digi-Destined and their Digimon a tiny, guilty smile of encouragement.

The Greymon now turned from the stone barrier to scrutinize them, his red eyes glaring from under the thick brows of his helmet. "Someone should start explaining. Now." The Champion's words were clipped with anger, trailing off into a growl. Since he was eyeing the small troop as he spoke, various expressions of nervousness and fear crossed the Digi-Destineds' faces. Their Digimon stepped closer to them, taking up defensive positions.

Brell frowned disapprovingly at the dinosaur. "Your anger is misplaced, Hite. The young humans are not at fault here." When the Greymon's irate gaze was transferred to the large white dragon, he continued, in a tone of voice that was just short of commanding. "And since there is no one here who does not know what you are, disguises are unnecessary."

The Greymon snorted, but it was the Birdramon who spoke, after a short sound of agreement. "He is right, Hite. We are only complicating matters." To the surprise of the children, the flaming bird began to glow with a milky light. Moments after, the Greymon joined in.

When the light faded two more dragons stood in the desert. They were only slightly smaller than Brell, but looked more like Sarith and Tok. The one that had been the Greymon was a reddish orange color, with yellow spines and wings like his children, and a small horn on his nose like his daughter. He continued to glare at the group of small beings below with bright blue eyes, his pupils slits. The Birdramon was a lighter orange-yellow, with dark orange wings and spines and eyes the green of Brell's. She bore no horns on her head at all.

Tai was tired of waiting for explanations. "Hey, what's going on here?" he demanded loudly, thumping his tail on the ground for emphasis.

"Silence, human!" snapped Hite. Then, in the same breath, "Sarith! Tok! Come away from them!"

The little mint dragon unfolded from her submissive posture like a sprung jack-in-the-box. She sat up straight, chin up to stare her father in the eye. "I'm not going anywhere," Sarith announced bluntly. "They're my friends."

Hite reared back in surprise, his blue eyes widening. "Friends?" he rumbled. "Friends!? They most certainly are not! They're dangerous aliens, and you are far too young to understand these matters. You and Tok will go home now, and we will sort this out."

" 'Dangerous aliens'?" Matt growled. He didn't like this guy.

Tok, standing between him and Sarith, shot the golden dragon a look. "Shhh. My father's a . . . um, policeman I guess is the human term. He has the authority to decide what to do with you, so be quiet. All of you. Sarith and I will speak for you." Matt saw the sense in that and nodded, though he wasn't happy about it. The others mirrored his action. Tai looked about to object, but finally nodded as well.

Meanwhile Sarith was telling her father hotly, "I'm staying right here! And I'm not too young to understand! And you're wrong about them, Dad!"

The reddish orange dragon growled low, a deep and dangerous rumble. "Tok, take your sister home. Now."

The little dragon turned from Matt and drew himself up as tall as he could. "It's our fault they were pulled into this. I'm staying, Father."

"You did this, then?" He pointed at the little group, and his son understood what he meant.

Tok swallowed. "Yes, sir."

Another low growl. After a few more moments of scrutiny, Hite snorted sharply. "Don't move, any of you. I will deal with the other humans before I decide what to do with you. Brell, Sanim, help me." The three adult dragons withdrew to circle around the damaged part of the wall. They were too large to all fit inside the courtyard.

"Whew!" Sarith let out a huge sigh of relief and sat down like a deflating balloon. She gave them all a smile. "Well, we're all still in one piece so far!" she giggled.

"Okay, spill it, guys," Tai ordered, not amused.

"Yeah, like, no offense, but your dad's a total grouch," complained Mimi.

Tok frowned. "It's his job," he said stiffly. "He protects our people from dangerous species. It's a very important position."

"We're not dangerous!" Matt insisted, glaring.

"I was talking about the magic-users."

"Oh."

T.K. scooted closer, Tokomon riding on his hat. "Howdja know? That they were your mom and dad, I mean."

"Yes, you recognized them before they transformed, before they even spoke," agreed Izzy thoughtfully. "Brell did as well."

Sarith giggled again. "You think we wouldn't recognize our own parents?"

"We can tell if a creature is really a dragon in disguise," clarified Tok. "And we can recognize people we know well."

"Are-are they really mad?" T.K. asked softly.

Sarith tapped his helmet lightly with her tail, grinning. "Nah. Nothing we can't handle. They're only grownups, after all." She winked.

Joe had been watching the three large dragons nervously. Suddenly he yelped and took a step backward, nearly tripping over Gomamon. "They're coming back!" he announced.

There was something . . . final about the way they were approaching. Perhaps it was their expressions. Sora, sensing that the dragons weren't going to be around much longer, turned to Sarith. "Thank you, both of you," the red dragon said with a sincere smile.

"Yeah, we never would have rescued our friends if you hadn't helped us! Thanks!" chimed in Koromon.

"Thank you all, for your friendship." Sarith smiled back at Sora. "It was fun!"

Matt cleared his throat uncomfortably. "And thank you for looking after my brother, Sarith."

"Thanks for looking after mine," she returned, nudging Tok with her shoulder.

The indigo dragon scuffed the ground with one front foot, looking embarrassed. "None of you would have been in danger if it hadn't been for us, anyway. So thank you for staying by us."

Tai shrugged, his expression one of indifference. "Not like we had much choice. We weren't going to just wander off looking like this, right?" Koromon glared at him and he coughed. "Uh . . . well, you guys travel all over the universe, right? So . . . if you're ever around Odiba, Japan, stop by for a visit." The blue dragon gave an plucky grin. "I'm sure we'll be home by the time you guys get ungrounded. Or whatever it is dragon parents do to punish their kids." Tok shot him an annoyed look, then snorted and rolled his eyes. But he was smiling.

"Enough with the 'thank you's!" Mimi exploded, exasperated. "Can we be human now?"

A deep voice chuckled above them. "Indeed you can, young one." A shadow in the shape of a claw-tipped arm fell over the group. In the cheery light of the morning sun, Brell's upraised front foot took on a now-expectant opalescent glow. Pale pastel pinks, blues, purples and more swirled around the milky light that covered his claws, like a liquid kaleidoscope. As the cloud of light drifted down to cover the children, the Digimon, Izzy and T.K. flinched. But when Tok and Sarith made no move, and the glow didn't seem to have any effect, they relaxed. Izzy took off one of his yellow gloves and passed his hand through the cloud, although it covered him completely anyway. Tok, watching, smiled. He was going to miss all the questions.

The light faded, leaving behind five wobbly humans.

"Man, anyone else feel like they've just gotten off one of those spinny-things at the amusement park?" groaned the blond in the turtleneck, sitting down in the sand. The others copied his action, sitting or sprawling, depending. With a laugh T.K. threw himself into his brother's arms for a hug.

"Palmon, look! My hat!" cried Mimi, grabbing the wide pink brim with both hands.

Tai snatched up the orange pendant hanging around his neck, peered at it closely, then flashed Joe a triumphant grin. The boy with glasses just looked ill. Sora patted her blue hat, making sure it was still in place, as she hugged Biyomon.

"See? I told you you were still Sora on the inside," said the pink parrot cheerfully.

The human girl's smiled broadened. "I'm glad you were right."

Sarith, sitting up very straight, observed them with a mock-haughty air about her, then shook her head. "A shame. They looked so much better as dragons. Well, at least they're still colorful." Then her mask cracked and she giggled.

There was a loud, "Ahem," which got everyone's attention. Tok and Sarith's father gazed down at them pointedly. Although his expression remained one of disapproval, his frown was less severe. "Brell has explained to me the situation, as my son explained to him," the reddish orange dragon rumbled. Tok winced and looked down at the ground.

"Tok, your actions, while wrong, were done out of. . . ." Hite trailed off into low grumbles until Sanim gave him a smart tap with her tail. "Friendship," he finished reluctantly. The little blue-purple dragon's head came up sharply. "And you faced the consequences of those actions bravely. I am removing your . . . friends . . . of any blame in this matter."

Any cheers the small party would have made were quelled by Hite's strong stare. "Furthermore, we have the sorcerer and sorceress in our possession. We have removed all their weapons, and we will be bringing them back to our world, where we will drain them of their powers. Thus harmless, we will return them to Earth."

The Digi-Destined, Digimon and dragon siblings grew quiet. They had failed to notice the two slumped forms lying at the large dragon's feet in their excitement of returning to their true forms. Even though he didn't particularly like the two, Tai couldn't help a sympathetic wince. The woman's arm _had_ to be broken—elbows just weren't supposed to bend in that direction. A thin trail of bright red blood trailed down the man's chin. Apparently the attacks of Hite and Sanim in their Digimon guises hadn't vaporized the two humans, only knocked them off the wall and into unconsciousness.

Izzy had picked up on Hite's last statement. "Send them back to Earth? You can do that?" he asked, his eyes alight with excitement.

"Well, we can't really send beings," admitted Sarith. "But we can take them with us when we travel."

"Then you can take us back home too!" Joe exclaimed, figuring out what the redhead was leading up too. The other Digi-Destined stared at each other, eyes wide.

"Out of the question!" snapped Hite. "I am not allowing any dragon to approach Earth unless absolutely necessary for the time being. Not while there are humans remaining with the knowledge to hunt dragons. And you are certainly not coming to our world with us!"

Tok and Sarith's mother smiled gently. "You wouldn't want to be dropped off where we leave these humans anyway, dears."

Collectively, the Digi-Destined sighed.

"Hey, lighten up," Sarith chided, frowning up at her father as she spoke to her friends. "Aren't there still evil Digimon you guys have to defeat before you can go home?" Her voice lowered. "Look, we'll be ungrounded before too long, I'll bet. As soon as Tok and I can get away, we'll come back to Digiworld and look for you. If you haven't made it back home before then, we'll give you a ride."

But her father's pointed ears swiveled, and by his growl there was no doubt he heard. "That will be difficult, Sarith, since they will not remember you." His voice was low and hard.

Tai didn't like the sound of that. "What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded angrily, holding Koromon under one arm as he stood in front of the large creature.

But Sarith and Tok evidently knew, for they both gasped. "You have no right to block their memories, Dad!" shouted Sarith, jumping up.

"To _what!?_"

Brell gave a rumbling sigh. "It is truly for the best. You will be safer this way. We will do the same with the magic-users, so that they will not bother you with petty revenge."

Tai decided to ask questions later—since it was obvious Hite wasn't a very patient guy—and just accept what Sarith and Tok had said. "You can't just mess with our heads without our permission!" declared the brown-haired boy.

"Enough! It is not negotiable!" Hite roared. The immense dragon seemed to grow in height at he reared back on his hand legs, spreading his golden wings wide. With one flap he sent a wave of wind and sand whirling around the group of humans, dragons and Digimon. But the wind didn't die down. It grew, spiraling around and up until they were caught in the center of a giant twister fully the size of the adult dragons. The Digi-Destined and their Digimon cried out from within, shielding their faces. At the same time Brell's tail snaked in among the group and surreptitiously curled around Sarith and Tok, drawing them away.

The mint green dragon struggled wildly in her mentor's firm grasp. Tears blinded her blue-green eyes, but nothing could block her ears. This wasn't fair! There was so much more she wanted to say to her friends. She wanted to tell them that she would never again judge another species just because they were supposed to be dangerous. She wanted to hug T.K farewell. She wanted to tell Tai she admired him for being able to make the decisions of a leader, something she now knew the difficulty of. She wanted to talk with Matt more about brothers, and cheer him up when he was down. He seemed to be down a lot. She wanted to thank Sora for taking the chance and trusting them back at the oasis, and she wanted to play tag with the Digimon again. And now she would never get to do any of that. They were her friends, and her father was taking them away. It wasn't fair!

Her indigo-colored brother didn't struggle, but he was physically shaking with the injustice of it. He could understand his father's caution of allowing humans to know of their existence, but this wasn't right. They were only children, and they were his friends. At the very least the adults should have explained what they were doing before they started, and tried to find a better way. There had to be a better way than this.

"Sarith!" came T.K.'s muffled cry from the center of the tornado. His voice was high with fear.

"T.K.!" she shouted, trying to be heard above the wind. "Don't be afraid! I'm here!"

Any other words were drowned out by the whirlwind and Sanim's voice as she spoke. "Take care of our children and the offending humans, Hite. I will take the young humans and these strange creatures to a hospitable location." The yellowish-orange dragon spread her wings wide and leapt into the sky with the grace of a swan.

But Sarith felt no hope. Her mother was a kind-hearted being, but she believed as her mate did. The safety of the dragon people outweighed all else, including her children's pleas.

Tok saw the tears in her eyes and nudged her with his snout, trying to make her feel better even though he felt just as bad himself. "It's not right Sarith, but at least they'll be safe. And . . . they won't miss us."

"_I'll_ miss them." She choked on a sob. "It's not fair!"

"Life rarely is," Brell murmured softly. His tail uncoiled, allowing Sarith and Tok to drop gently to the ground. Sudden silence fell as the twister vanished.

Sanim, along with the Digi-Destined and their Digimon, was gone.

* * *

Darkness. Can't see. Except for a pair of deep brown eyes. And someone is laughing. . . .

Izzy sat up with a gasp, his breath loud in his ears. Blinded by the bright sunlight, the boy blinked rapidly, trying to look around. Palm trees, water, sand . . . where was he?

"Izzy, are you all right?" Tentomon popped into view.

"I'm fine," the auburn-haired boy assured his Digimon. "Just a dream. Uh . . . where are we?"

Biyomon approached, carrying a coconut in her clawed wings. "We're at the oasis, silly! Want some breakfast?" She offered the fruit.

"More like lunch," responded Izzy, "judging by the position of the sun." His mind worked. Oasis? He remembered finding the oasis. Tai had spotted it with his telescope. And . . . he must have fallen asleep. But they had found the little water spot in late afternoon. Had he slept all through the night and morning? That didn't seem right. And why didn't he recall any of it?

The rest of his friends were in various stages of sleep and wakefulness. T.K. and Tokomon were playing by the water's edge. Gomamon was sleeping on his back, floating in the middle of the lake. Tai sat staring out over the water, Koromon in his lap. Away from the lake Matt leaned against a tree, fiddling with his harmonica but not playing it. Gabumon was snoozing beside him. Sora stretched and yawned, looking like she had just woke up as well. Mimi and Palmon were eating lunch.

Joe came up from behind and plopped down next to Izzy, as Tentomon used his Super Shocker to break open the coconut.

Perfect opportunity. "Joe, are you unable to recollect any of our events of the past evening and this morning?" Izzy wasn't one for small talk. Not when there was something he wanted to know.

The boy with glasses looked relieved. "I was afraid I was being paranoid again. Maybe all this heat really has baked our brains this time."

"Hmm. I—"

He stopped as Tai stood up and faced the group, a decisive expression on his face. "Let's eat and move out," the brown-haired leader declared. "We've still got a long way to go to get out of this desert."

The meal was subdued. The only conversation held was to establish that no one else could remember anything after reaching the oasis either. Joe pinned it on heat exhaustion. Eventually, the rest concurred. And despite the fact that they all agreed hiking through the sun was what had caused the condition, no one was hesitant about leaving the water source and continuing their journey. Something about this place left everyone feeling depressed. Even T.K. and Tokomon, usually so excited about everything, were quiet.

So it wasn't that long before the fourteen were again marching through the desert, leaving the green and blue refuge behind. The relentless sun beat down, hour after hour, until the discomfort of the oasis and their missing memories were fading away to be replaced with more pressing concerns. Thin, wispy clouds hovered in the sky, but they did nothing to block the sun. A few small cactuses dotted the landscape, but they couldn't provide shade for everyone. There was nothing to do but continue on.

After a while the comments began. They were pointless, stupid. The jokes weren't funny. But the group needed something, anything, to keep their minds off the oppressive heat. Sweat trickled down their brows, to be wiped away as they plodded on. Koromon wasn't looking so good, again reminding Tai of what he had done to his little friend.

Following an incident with a mirage, Gennai appeared in another of his holographic projections. Unfortunately he soon left, giving the kids more problems than they had before. And it wasn't long after that they were dragged into another wild adventure, this time on board a large ship cruising the desert sands. No rest for the weary. They were the Digi-Destined, after all, and they had an entire world to save.


	9. Epilogue: Just to Say Goodbye

****

A Little Side Adventure

Epilogue: Just to Say Goodbye

By Shelli-Jo Pelletier

(ussfantasy@hotmail.com)

***************

__

Several months later. . . .

"Sarah, get down from there!"

The blonde girl laughed, a high and happy sound. With a little twirl she leaped down from the railing of the bridge she had been balancing on and landed lightly beside the blond boy who had spoken.

"Lighten up, Tony. It's such a nice day in Japan!" She beamed at him, her light green eyes sparkling. And it was true. The sun brightly shone, reflecting off the ribbon of water below the bridge, and a cool breeze blew through the green trees of the park. It was a great day to be alive.

Tony was not impressed. He snorted and rolled his blue eyes, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Aren't you going to ask if I spotted anyone?" he asked pointedly.

Her grin got even wider. Excitedly, he grabbed a hold of his yellow T-shirt. "Tell me, Tok! Tell me!"

"Shhhhh! Don't use that name! Some human might hear!"

With a snort of her own, she gave her brother a playful shove. "Whatever, _Tony_. Tell me!"

Finally, he smiled. "I'll show you instead. Come on." The boy grabbed her hand. Together they dashed over the bridge, dodging through the trees of the park. Tony led her down a sloping path that wound down a hill, then yanked her to a halt. "Before we get there, I should tell you something." His smile was gone.

"What? Tell me what? Where are they?" She shot out the questions impatiently.

"Well, they're at the picnic table area, but—"

Sarah's eyes lit up. She knew where that was! They had been searching Odiba, Japan for hours, and it was almost time to go back. But she wasn't leaving without seeing them, not when they were so close! Without waiting for Tony to finish what he was saying, she shot off.

"Sarah!" he cried, then bolted after her when she didn't pause. He followed the flash of the sun on her long golden hair as she left the path and zipped through the trees. He caught up with her as she topped a small rise and pulled up short. Panting, the boy leaned against a tree to catch his breath.

Sarah stared down the grassy slope with wide eyes, her face a mask of shock. At the base of the hill was a small paved area dotted with picnic tables, a few with umbrellas. Clustered around one of the tables were seven . . . no, eight young humans.

She would have recognized them anywhere. There was Matt, leaning on one end with an elbow. Izzy sat with his back propped against the table's edge, tapping away at his ever-present laptop. Mimi was doing her nails. The one person she didn't know was a small brown-haired girl, leaning against Tai's shoulder. But what struck the girl wasn't that they were there, it was the expressions on their faces. And the fact that no one was talking, or even really looking at each other. They just sat there.

"They're. . . ."

"Miserable," Tony finished, peering down at the cemented area. They were too far away to be heard, and the wind was blowing in the wrong direction anyway.

"Where are the Digimon?" Sarah asked, sitting down on a raised root of the tree they stood next to. Her brother turned his head and gave her a stare. "Oh no," she breathed.

They were quiet for a moment, watching their human friends down below. Suddenly Sarah's face hardened and she stood up. "I'm going to go talk with them," she announced. "Just to say goodbye."

Before she could move he grabbed her wrist. "Are you crazy? Brett would kill us. We're only allowed to see them, make sure they're okay. And bad enough if Dad finds out Brett let us come here, if he finds out we _talked_ to them we won't be able to leave home ever again."

"I don't care," she snapped. "I never got to say goodbye, and that's what I'm going to do."

He sighed. "Sarah, they won't recognize you. They won't remember you."

"Then I'll remind them!"

"They won't believe you!" he shot back, annoyed now. It occurred to him that he was more annoyed with himself, for not having the guts to do what his sister was about to do. But he also knew what he was saying was true.

Footsteps, behind them, loud in the silence after his outburst. They turned as one to find an old, clean-shaven man with a full head of snow-white hair. He leaned on a cane for support, though his sharp green eyes were clear and intelligent. "It's time for us to go, young ones," he said softly.

Sarah didn't move as Tony went to stand with the old man. "Brett, can't we just go down there for a minute? Just for a second. Just to say goodbye. No one has to know! Please?"

The man shook his head. His green eyes were sorrowful. "I'm sorry, child. You would only alarm them. They have no memories of you." He paused, searching her face with his deep eyes, then turned and slowly shuffled away. Tony looked about to say something, but a curt cough from Brett sent him trotting after the old man.

The blonde girl with sad green eyes took one last look at the group gathered below. They had to their friends behind when they returned to their world, to their lives. Just as she did. _They won't remember you._ Her brother's words echoed in her ears.

"I'll remember," whispered the lone girl. Her breath caught in her throat and she brushed the wetness from her eyes. "I'll always remember." Then, before she did something she regretted, the girl turned and dashed to follow her brother and her teacher. In a moment the hill was empty.


End file.
